If Only This WAS Fiction: Carly's Story
by Musicmochroidhe
Summary: SEQUEL TO THIS IS FACT, NOT FICTION. Carly has unwillingly been introduced to the secret world of vampires. However, secrets have consequences, and when her boyfriend leaves her and she runs away to Ireland, she finds that you can't really run from them.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So, to those of you who haven't yet read any of my stories, this is the official sequel to _This Is Fact, Not Fiction, _my first Twilight Fanfiction. There were a large number of OC's in Fact/Fiction, and this story is a continuation of the lives of those OC's, so it may be a little confusing for most of you. Here's a little synopsis of the prequel to anyone who hasn't read it: **

**Tessa Calder meets Sean McNally and his family who move to her hometown shortly after she read the _Twilight _books. After forming a friendship with Sean, she discovers that he is in fact a vampire, just like the ones she's read about. The Cullens are all real, as are most of the events that took place in the books. Tessa somehow winds up as Sean's girlfriend now that she's in on the secret, but she realizes too late that he's not the right one for her and she desperately wants to find a way out of her new life, preferably _before _he tries to change her into a vampire. She gets help from Sean's sister, Lisa, and her best friend Carly (who is human), and escapes Sean, meeting Jacob Black along the way who imprints on her and thus is determined to stop Sean when he finds out about Tessa and goes on an angry rampage. After a long and complicated cat and mouse chase, involving help from the real-life Cullens, Tessa gets her happily ever after with Jacob and Sean meets the true love of his life, Lindsey, who becomes a vampire.**

**_This _story picks up just after the end of Fact/Fiction, and it is about Carly, the human who was dragged into the crazy world of vampires and werewolves against her will and is now struggling to deal with it.**

**It sounds crazy, I know, but I hope you give it a chance! Please Read/Review! **

**To those of you who _have _read _This Is Fact, Not Fiction, _this is the same preview chapter that was posted at the end of Fact/Fiction, so you can skip ahead to the next chapter!**

**Thanks to all of you,**

**~MM**

**Preface**

Talk about paranoid. Those freaks who sit in their houses all day, mumbling about the creepy people who are out to get them? Yeah, they know nothing. I'm one of the fortunate few who have actually been introduced to the world where you always have to watch your back.

Yeah, I'm talking about the friggin' vampires. Of all the mythological creatures, _they _had to be real. And my best friend had to date one of them, thus dragging me into the cheesy horror flick that I now call my life. Great, just great.

Yeah, I suppose you could say I brought it on myself. I _did_ sort of convince her to date him in the first place… but in my defense, how was I to know that he was actually one of the elite, immortal, bloodsucking undead? He just looked like a normal guy to me. Okay that's a lie, there was _nothing_ normal about Sean McNally; everything about him screamed FABULOUS!

God damn my freaking hormones. It was totally my fault that Tessa got involved with him. I forced my own best friend to date a deadly, obsessive, teenage vampire, and only barely got her out of the fix with the help of _more_ vampires. VAMPIRES! Why did my life have to crash into some sick fantasy that involved VAMPIRES?

But all that was behind us now. Tessa met Jacob Black, amazing Quileute Indian chief / gorgeous werewolf, and somehow magically fell in love with him (something I still don't quite understand), forcing her to break up with the vampire, who, after a crazy hunt down of my best friend and an extended cat-and-mouse chase, actually found his _own_ soul mate, and my best friend finally got her "happily ever after," if you believe those things exist, which I suppose they could, seeing as vampires and werewolves are real, why not, right?

Right. So, here we are in happily-ever-after-land, and everyone's happy. Then WHY do I still get the heebie-jeebies whenever I leave my apartment?

I'll tell you why: Because everywhere I go, I still see them. Every pale face is the face of a vampire. Every cold hand I bump against is the hand of a killer. I've turned into a paranoid maniac!

It doesn't help that my vampire cohort, Lisa, keeps showing up to say hi. Honestly, I thought she had her own friends now? Our days of conspiring teamwork are _way _over. I just wish that I could forget any of it happened. I just want to go back to being normal.

Do things go back to normal? No, of course not. I have Lisa, Jacob, and of course, Tessa, to remind me, it all happened. Goodbye normal, solid, believable world, hello vampires, werewolves, and nightmares, oh my!

I haven't had a peaceful night's sleep since the day I found out the McNallys were all vampires, and the whole waking-up-screaming-in-the-middle-of-the-night thing isn't doing so well for my popularity, especially at college, and _especially _with my boyfriend, Mike.

To be honest, I don't give Mike the amount of credit he really deserves. After all, it's been months that I've been keeping this huge secret from him, and he _still_ wants to be with me. If our places were switched, I probably would have accused of an affair ages ago. I can't believe that this is what my life has come to; I never leave my apartment unless I have to, I'm keeping secrets from my boyfriend whom I am madly in love with, and my completely unromantic-best friend is closer to getting married than me. Can you say _jealous_?

It's just not fair! She got into this whole supernatural mess, dragged me with her, and yet she gets to be happy and lovey-dovey until death-do-us-part before me, and I'm stuck with creepy nightmares that resemble badly made horror-flicks from the 1950's!

But, oh wait, I forgot. It was all my fault, remember? Right. _That's _why my life sucks.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Talk Me Down**

It was Tessa's surprise birthday party, and I was making myself comfortable at her house, per usual, while her family bounced around in anticipation of her and Jacob's arrival. I knew for a fact that she had _no idea _about the party; I made the tactful cell-phone call from my "dorm" to throw her off our trail myself. I hadn't seen my favorite girl since the weekend she made it home from the Cullen Estate, an adventure I was more than happy to have been excluded from, but I found her a changed girl from the one I had known before.

When I left Tessa at Dartmouth in August, she was still a scared, timid girl, stuck in a limbo of indecision. But when she came back… What a difference. Not only did she radiate happiness and good health, but the _life _was back in her, color returned to her pale cheeks, like she had thawed from some frozen state of being. And I thanked Jacob for that. I had never seen anyone who made her that happy, but the attachment went beyond mere chemistry. He was _perfect _for her. He reacted to her every movement apparently unconsciously, giving her the exact right amount of space. There were no strange silences between them; they always had something to say to one another, and if not, their eyes did all the talking. She _was _different, but in a good way.

I was yanked out of my reverie by Mrs. Calder's obsessive preparations for her daughter's arrival. Actually, the woman was probably more nervous about the _boyfriend _that would be coming with her. I didn't blame her at all; I had been scared silly when I first saw the massive hunk of man that was wrapped so innocently around the tiny shape of my best friend. Apparently Tessa has some kind of complex for mythological creatures. First vampires, now werewolves…

At least the latter didn't claim blood as their first form of sustenance. I could deal with that.

"Should I cut the cake before she gets here? I mean, it would save the time later, and we'd be sure to have equal sized pieces. But then, maybe some people want larger pieces? Or maybe we won't eat the whole thing and freeze the rest for later, in which case I shouldn't cut it. And we want Tessa to see the decorations on it, don't we? But it's just sitting there right now, and I don't just want to leave it-"

Tessa's brother, John, rolled his eyes and he motioned to his friend Eric to follow him upstairs. They weren't the most patient of our group.

"Mrs. Calder," I interrupted the woman's flustered monologue. "You aren't really going to try to deprive Tessa of cutting her own birthday cake, are you? Just calm down, we'll have plenty of time after she gets here! Why don't you sit down?"

"Oh no, I couldn't sit down…" she said distractedly while ringing her hands and staring out the front window, eyes scouting for any vehicle that looked like it had even the slightest inclination to pull into the driveway. "I don't know why I'm so nervous, it just seems like every time I have Tessa anywhere near me, she's going to disappear within seconds. You heard what happened the last time she came home, didn't you?"

"Yes, Tessa told me all about it. But really, could you blame her for the blunder? She's possibly one of the most forgetful people I know."

Mrs. Calder was of course referring to the time when Tessa and Jake had used the house to hide out during the days when Sean McNally was on the hunt for Tessa's mortality. They had gone speeding off almost as soon as they had arrived, barely getting the time to socialize with Tessa's family, and leaving with the poor excuse that Tessa had orchestra rehearsal at her college and had entirely forgotten about it. Which, all things considered, wasn't entirely unbelievable. Just inconvenient.

"I suppose she is a little forgetful…" Mrs. Calder mused while pacing around the kitchen. "Well, she gets that from my side of the family. I probably shouldn't be so accusing. You know, I really can't stay still. I'm going to take Hugo out for a walk."

"Brilliant idea, Mrs. Calder, I'm sure she'll show up while you're gone."

"Really?"

"Of course! Like waiting for food at a restaurant; as soon as you leave, the food arrives!"

"I suppose you're right," she sighed, the nerves no better for wear, leading a happy Hugo out the back door.

"Wow, what is the big deal around here?" my boyfriend, Mike, asked while scooting closer to me on the Calder's couch. Now that Tessa's mom was out of the room, he was a little more at ease. "They're acting like the president is coming, or something."

"Worse," I laughed. "Tess is bringing her boyfriend."

"You mean that Sean guy?" he asked, putting his arm around me casually.

"No, they broke up a few weeks ago. Tess met someone knew, and he's… a little intimidating." I didn't know why I hadn't filled Mike in on the details in Tessa's life, other than that I didn't particularly want to reflect on them myself.

"Intimidating how?" Mike asked. "Like, tattoos and dread locks? Or is he the motorcycle-riding, beer-chugging kind of guy?" He laughed at his own little joke, but I couldn't managed to laugh with him.

"It's kind of hard to explain. You'll see him when he gets here."

Mike shrugged a silent "okay," and turned his focus out the window towards the driveway where all our eyes had been fixed all morning. Almost as if on cue, the black Volkswagen Rabbit slowed and turned into the Calder's driveway.

"She's here!" I squealed, jumping off the couch and running to the window where I crouched down just out of sight. I watched Tessa and Jacob get out of the car, Jacob hurrying over to her side to close her door and wrap his arm around her waist, a motion so smooth it looked natural. Mrs. Calder and Tess's big, fluffy dog Hugo were walking in the front lawn and Hugo ran over to Tess and Jacob, leaping with joy as he shamefully threw himself at Jacob's feet, tail wagging furiously.

"Hey, Hugo never acts like that when I come over," I heard Mike mutter behind me. I turned to see him standing right behind me, peering over my head trying to see Tessa's "intimidating" boyfriend clearly.

"You idiot, get down!" I said sharply, pulling the hem of his polo shirt so that he was crouching behind me. "God, you're so nosey! You'll see them soon enough, this is supposed to be a surprise, remember?"

"Says the girl who's face is glued to the window," he chuckled sweetly, kissing my cheek. Hmm, I would love to pull his mouth on top of my lips and keep it there for a while, but at that moment I was on a mission, I could not be distracted…

The sound of the back door opening startled both of us and we tore apart, ducking behind the couch where Tess would see us when she walked into the room. Mrs. Calder was nervously spewing random bits of information to try and distract Tessa, but this was normal behavior for her, so Tess wasn't suspicious.

"…And John's been doing very well at school this year, he made it on the honor roll for first term, and his science teacher nominated him for student of the month!" She said brightly, placing Tessa's bag on the kitchen table. Hugo followed her, his nails clicking on the kitchen's brick floor. The shuffle of bodies told me that Tessa and Jacob were both standing just on the other side of the couch. My heart was racing from the excitement.

"That's great," Tessa said. "Where is John? I haven't talked to the little bugger in ages."

"SURPRISE!" Mike and I jumped up from behind the couch just as John and Eric leaped down the stairs, forcing a very surprised Tessa to scream and fall backward, where Jacob fortunately caught her. John and Eric were laughing so hard you could hear another word said in the room.

"Oh! We _so _got you, we got you good!" Eric squealed while jumping up and down. I raced forward and grabbed my best friend in a hug around the shoulders.

"Oh my God, I've missed you so much!" I cried out, laughing along with everyone else.

"You scared the _heck _out of me!" Tessa screamed, though her face was breaking into the smile I knew and loved. She turned against Jacob, taking out the rest of her anger.

"You were in on this weren't you? I can't believe you!" She smacked him playfully and his grin was wide enough to knock the walls down. He just chuckled and kissed her on top of the head.

This kiss did the trick; She was calm, all smiles. "I should have known," she laughed. "He did say something that made me suspect…"

"All part of my clever plot," Jacob laughed. "I am the master at surprises."

"Well, it was a great help having you in on our little plan," Mrs. Calder agreed. "Happy Birthday, Baby Girl," She said affectionately, squeezing Tessa's arm. "My goodness, I can't believe you're nineteen. So grown up! I remember the day you were born, it was sunny, and warm, and I was walking all over the hospital because you were so stubborn-"

"I've heard the story, Mom," Tessa said quickly to end the monologue before it got underway. "Alright, if this is a party, where's my cake?"

Tessa's mom lead her around the kitchen while I was faced with the uncomfortable job of introducing my boyfriend to Jacob Black.

"Mike, this is Jacob," I said, waving my hand in front of the large Native American. Jacob smiled and extended a hand of greeting.

"It's nice to meet you, Tessa's told me a lot about you," he said in his deep husky voice. I was still a little awed every time I saw Jacob, and now was no exception. Mike was looking at him apprehensively, clearly comprehending the intimidating quality the Quileute werewolf possessed. If anything, he was sizing him up, like competition.

"Can't say I've heard much about you," Mike said a little less warmly than Jake's greeting had been. "But then, I haven't seen Tess in a while. Spending too much time with my girlfriend, I suppose," he said meaningfully, putting a forceful arm around my waist, like he was claiming his territory. He was acting very odd.

Jacob seemed to understand better than I did because he politely excused himself and joined Tessa who was catching up with her parents while she and Mrs. Calder cut the beautiful birthday cake we had ordered for her.

As soon as Jacob was gone I pulled Mike's arm off me and faced him. "What was that about?" I said, a little more sharply than I intended.

Mike looked startled for a second then mumbled, "Nothing…"

We celebrated, we ate cake, and we enjoyed ourselves for the majority of the afternoon. Tessa and Jacob were nearly inseparable, Mrs. Calder was happy as ever, John and Eric had ditched the party as soon as the cake was gone, and Mr. Calder was grilling Jacob with questions about power tools. And Mike was slightly more removed than usual. I couldn't figure out why he was acting so strangely.

After dinner, everyone went outside to join in on a game of Frisbee, the favorite sport of all the Calders. Everything seemed to be going fine until Tessa got so warmed up that she tossed off her sweatshirt, revealing a large purple bruise on her arm.

The air in my lungs froze as I saw that bruise. Bruises weren't anything new for Tess. She was very familiar with them, in fact, thanks to a certain vampire…

"My goodness, Tessa!" Mrs. Calder exclaimed. "How'd you get that bruise?"

"Ugh," Tessa moaned. "Don't remind me, it's so embarrassing!"

Jacob was laughing. "That's just Tessa being Tessa. She thought it would be a good idea to try to carry all her books and her French Horn down the stairs at once, without even turning the hall light on-"

"-And I tripped, fell, tossed all my stuff on the floor, and voila! Big purple bruise to remind me not to be an idiot next time," Tessa finished, showing off the masterpiece that covered her bicep. "Jake hasn't let me hear the end of it since! I'm officially not allowed to carry _any _of my own books because Casanova here has to be gallant all the time!"

"I'm just looking out for your best interest, love," Jacob said sweetly, leaning down to kiss her cheek.

Of course, there was no way any vampire could be hurting Tessa now. Watching Jacob holding her with so much care, I knew that he wouldn't let any danger near her. She would always have him to look out for her.

I watched the two tenderly, my eyes full of what must have been some form of longing. Sure, Tessa had a werewolf to protect her from the scary vampires, but who would protect me? I had no one on my side to keep me safe. I was utterly alone.

I noticed Mike watching me and realized I wasn't alone. I had Mike, but what use was he against vampires? I loved him more than anything, but he was in as great a danger as I was against the threat of the immortal creatures.

The sun was setting and it was becoming too dark to continue our game of Frisbee, so everyone headed inside where Mrs. Calder poured us all glasses of lemonade and Mr. Calder turned on a CD of classical piano music.

"So, Jacob," Tessa's dad said while he fixed his own slightly stronger drink, "Any plans for Christmas yet? Going to spend it with your family you think?"

"Actually, Dad," Tessa said suggestively, a knowing look passing between her and Jacob, "I was wondering if he could spend Christmas with us? You see, we have something kind of important coming up…"

My eyes grew wide as I anticipated what they were about to announce. Mrs. Calder looked as unaware as a fawn, and Mr. Calder's grip on his glass tightened.

Jacob cleared his throat and said with no hesitation, "We're going to get married."

I nearly fainted. Mrs. Calder screamed. John yelled a shocked, "No way!" and Mr. Calder took a very large sip from his drink.

Tessa beamed with excitement, while she continued explaining. "We wanted to tell you today. We're not going to have the wedding for a while, but I want Jacob to spend Christmas with us so we'll have more time to plan and to tell the rest of the family.

"Well," Mrs. Calder said, once she got over the initial surprise, "That's lovely! We're so happy to welcome you to the family!"

Mr. Calder's comment of "Isn't it a little soon?" was ignored.

Tessa launched into discussing plans with her mother while I zoned out for the most part, until she said my name, bringing me back to reality.

"You're going to be my maid of honor, you _have _to be! I want Lisa and Alice to be my bridesmaids. Oh, I can't wait for you to meet Alice, the two of you will get along so well!"

There was no end to it, was there? Vampires were a permanent part of my life now. I smiled, and congratulated Tessa, and excused myself, claiming that Mike and I had to get home.

As I silently drove back to my apartment, my mind continued mulling over the information the day had provided me.

My best friend was getting married; it was official. Not that I was one of those hopeless romantics who dreamed of their boyfriend getting down on one knee their entire lives, but it still stung a little that my best friend would be tying the knot before me, after dating her now fiancé for only a little more than a month. Mike and I had been dating for two years and that didn't make us any more ready to get married. Tessa's situation, however, put things into perspective a little more.

"Umm," Mike said hesitantly as we were speeding down the expressway, "Are you going to say something? You've been totally silent since we left."

"Sorry," I stammered, "I was just thinking…"

"Yeah, I know, it's a lot to take in." His eyes widened at the thought and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "How long has Tessa been seeing Jacob, anyway?"

"A little more than a month," I answered.

"Seriously? That's it? And they're already making that big of a decision? Shouldn't she wait a little while? Like a year or two?"

"Their relationship is a little different than most," I replied offhandedly. "They are very serious, I'm sure they know exactly what they're getting into." I was entirely confident that they would _never _have a reason to break up.

"What are you saying?" Mike asked, more offended than I expected. "That our relationship isn't as serious as theirs? That we aren't as in love as they are?"

"No! That's not what I'm saying at all! Where is this coming from?"

"Never mind," Mike muttered, turning to stare out the window. "Forget I said anything."

The rest of the drive home was quiet. The radio was the only one doing the talking. Mike wouldn't look at me, and when I reached out to hold his hand he pulled his back, leaving mine hanging above the gear shift.

I just couldn't understand where this coldness was coming from, but I knew that when we got home I would find out.

When I parked at the apartment building, Mike got out and marched with purpose up the three flights of stairs to our apartment and I hurried to keep up. The whole event reminded me of the opening scene in my favorite movie, _P.S. I Love You_, and I knew there was more truth to it than just the motions. He was waiting till we were behind closed doors to let me know what was bothering him.

I walked into our small two room apartment, seeing that Mike was pacing between the nonexistent barrier of the living room and the kitchen, anger pulsing off him with every step.

"Okay!" I exclaimed, tossing my bag on the floor and throwing my arms up in the air. "I give up! What on earth has been bothering you today? Ever since this afternoon, you have been in one of the sourest moods I've ever seen! You barely talked to Tessa all day, when it was _her _party, and you haven't even said much to me! And then that stupid argument on the way home? What is going on?"

Mike stopped pacing and looked at me. "What's going on with me? What's going on with _you?_ How can you blame me for acting weird? Your best friend announced that she's getting married to someone she's known for a month and you aren't the least bit worried? That doesn't strike you as odd at all? I know you, and you love Tessa like a sister, so call me crazy for being surprised that you aren't jumping up and down trying to stop her from making such a big mistake!"

"Hey!" I shouted back defensively. "What makes you think she's making a mistake? You don't know Jacob from Adam, you don't know anything about their relationship-"

"That's another thing," Mike continued. "You go off claiming that they have some kind of _special_ relationship- What could be so different between them than what's between us?"

"Don't you go comparing our relationship to theirs-"

"Ha!" He yelled, pointing his finger at me. "So you do think that they are more serious than we are! You just admitted it!"

"No! I didn't say that!" I objected, becoming more furious by the second. "I'm _not _comparing us to them, that's stupid and infantile! I told you, it's different-"

"I don't see how!" Mike exclaimed. "Other than the fact that we're clearly more responsible than they are."

"What is so irresponsible about getting married? You keep bring it up, like it's the worst thing they could do-"

"It is!" He yelled, exasperated. "It's stupid! They're acting like complete idiots! Who gets married after knowing each other for a month?"

"People who are in love, obviously!" I said pointedly.

Mike took a step back, like I had hit him in the gut. "You're saying that I don't love you?" he asked quietly.

"No!" I said, shocked. "That's not what I'm saying at all-"

"Then you don't love me?" he continued, hurt forming on his brow as kept moving backward, putting more space between us.

"No!" I pleaded. "I do love you! I do-"

"Yeah right," he spat at me, his face gray with anger and pain. He headed toward our bedroom with a bag in hand, grabbing random things out of drawers and stuffing them in. "You know, I may not be the most observant person in the world, but I can pick up on social cues, and I saw the way you were staring at Jacob today."

I was stunned. "W-wha- _what_?" I stammered. "Are you suggesting that I have a thing for _Jacob_?"

"Yeah, I am," he said roughly, glaring at me harshly as he worked his way through the bathroom, grabbing more items that disappeared into his bag.

"As if!" I laughed. "I would never, _never_, do that to my best friend!"

"Well then how do you explain the way you were looking at them this afternoon? When we were all outside? They have a word for that look, and it's called ENVY."

I was almost speechless. "I- I… I was admiring _them_, like, together, as a couple! I don't like Jacob! Not at all! I love _you_-"

"Yeah, well, that only confirms my other suspicion. You want to get married. You're jealous of Tessa, you want a more serious relationship, and I'm sorry! I love you, but I'm _not _ready to get married, and if you want something more serious than this, than you'll have to find it elsewhere."

He was at the door of our apartment, bag in one hand, keys to his car in the other. My eyes opened for what felt like the first time as I realized what he was about to do.

"No… You're not- No!" I screamed as his hand reached for the door, my tongue tasting the first of the salty tears that had landed on my lips.

The door closed behind him and I fell to the floor, tears and screams issuing from me without my being aware of them. I waited for him to come back through the door so we could kiss and make up, just like in _P.S. I Love You._ He would come back in, and I would jump into his arms, and then he would do a sexy strip dance in boxers and suspenders…

He didn't come back. I waited another minute, counting seconds under my breath. Finally, I ripped the door open and ran up the last flight of stairs to the roof of our apartment. I ran as close to the edge as I dared, just catching a glimpse of the red taillights as Mike drove away.

My breath was coming in in gasps, and I wrap my arms around my middle, pulling on my sweater to cling to my arms in the cool night air. I screamed. I ran over and kicked a random unidentifiable object that was sitting on the roof. My cell-phone vibrated in my pocket. I picked it up and answered it. It was Lisa. I cried while she talked me down off the roof, already on her way to my apartment.

I was alone in a world full of vampires.

**Questions, Comments, Love it or Hate it, the review button is right there.......**


	2. Chapter 2: I'm Wide Awake

**A/N: Hey Guys! So I decided to finally post this story for real, although I only have about four chapters written, but I'm on vacation and I have some form of strep throat, so I have nothing better to do than write, thus, more should be coming soon! I hope everyone likes the next chapter! By the way, a lot of inspiration came from _Fever Pitch_ and _P.S. I Love You _(Which was the main inspiration for the whole story). Also, I'm going to be posting a playlist for this story soon ('cause that's how I roll... lol).**

**Chapter 2: I'm Wide Awake**

Lisa found me in a pathetic state. I was curled up in a comforter on my couch, stuffing my face with chocolate covered popcorn, and watching the movie _When Harry Met Sally_, which Tessa had leant to me. I tended to yell things at the screen when I got to upset, occasionally tossing popcorn as well.

This routine continued until about 2 AM, when Lisa walked in the door, looking gorgeous as always, but also slightly apprehensive.

I know I said I was tired of vampires running in and out of my life, but at this point, seeing anyone familiar was a breath of fresh air, and if anyone could knock some sense back into me, it would be Lisa.

"Okay, what is this mess?" She said with untainted disgust, glancing at the pile of chocolate popcorn that was smeared across my TV screen and amassing on the floor beneath it. Then she seemed to take in my appearance, which wasn't anywhere near attractive, and let out a long sigh that was mingled with its fair share of tsking.

"Carly, I usually reserve words like this for people more deserving, but you have got to pull yourself together. He left you only three hours ago, there's a grand chance that you'll get back together. I doubt this is really anything to worry about-"

"You don't understand, Lisa," I moaned, rolling over in my comforter to reach for the remote, putting the movie on pause. "Mike and I never fight. _Never_. And then suddenly, today he just started acting weird, and he blamed it all on Tessa and Jacob."

Lisa nodded. "Tessa told me yesterday that she was going to break the news to her parents. How did everyone take it?"

"Everyone was wonderful about it! _Except _Mike." I rolled my eyes. "He's suddenly so concerned about Tessa, he kept saying she's making a huge mistake, jumping into marriage so soon-"

"Well, he obviously doesn't understand their relationship," Lisa replied smartly.

"Try telling him that! Next thing I know, he's storming out of here, and I couldn't say anything to stop him!"

Lisa looked pensive. "Hmm… I don't suppose he has feelings for Tessa, do you?"

I stared at her, horrified. "WHAT? Why would you _say _that?" I burst into another set of tears.

Lisa edge away from me slightly, gently and carefully patting me on the back. "I'm sorry! That was a horrible thing to say, I'm not really good at being subtle, am I?"

"No," I mumbled, wiping my damp cheeks with the sleeve of my sweatshirt. "It's not your fault, I'm a mess, I really am."

Lisa was silently nodded. A few seconds passed.

"Why didn't he come back? He was supposed to do the sexy dance…"

A few more seconds.

"It's not like I told him to propose or anything, putting words in my mouth…"

A few more seconds.

"He wouldn't know what envy looked like if it were doing a strip dance in front of him!"

A few more seconds.

"Who _doesn't _believe in love at first sight? I mean, people used to get married without even meeting their future spouse! Why should that bother him?"

Lisa cleared her throat. "If you're trying to prove to me that you're in any way mentally stable, you are failing epically."

"I'm sorry!" I exclaimed. "I really am! God, Lisa! Haven't you ever had to deal with losing love?"

As soon as the words were out of my mouth I bit my tongue. Lisa lost the love of her life several years before, and as a vampire, that wasn't something she would get over anytime soon.

Lisa stared at me pointedly with ice in her eyes. "I don't think I need to answer that," she said coldly.

"Oh, Lisa," I said quietly. "I'm so sorry-"

"Don't," she said harshly, raising one single hand. "You need to get away from the chocolate TV, get some sleep, and tomorrow we're getting out of this apartment. Now go to bed. Now." She pushed me along like a mother ushering a child to bed. I was issued several bennedryl, and within minutes I was out cold, reaching for the warm body of my boyfriend who wasn't there.

The next morning I woke up to the smell of coffee coming from the kitchen. Hmm, Mike must be up already. I pulled myself out of the bed and waddled to the bathroom. My eyes blurrily took in my own reflection in the mirror above the sink. I was still wearing my party shirt from the night before. My cheeks were streaked and smudged with lines of mascara that had dripped down my face. A crease formed between my eyebrows as I stared at myself in confusion, trying to remember why my appearance was so odd. I looked down and noticed the bottle of bennedryl sitting on the edge of the sink, and it all came back to me.

"Oh _NO!_" I wailed, sinking down to the fluffy bath mat on the floor, curling into a ball that I had no intention of coming out of. I was vaguely aware of the shadow that stood in my doorway, holding a mug of coffee.

"Come on, Drama Queen," Lisa said unsympathetically. "Drink this-"

She force-fed me coffee and a cinnamon roll where I sat on the bathroom floor, and when I still refused to move, she picked me up and carried my effortlessly into the kitchen.

"Ahhhh! Lisa! Put me down! Do you have any idea how _cold_ you are?" Being tossed over the shoulder by a vampire was about the equivalent of being dunked in a bucket of ice water. Thankfully, Lisa set me down in one of the chairs at my small, round kitchen table, and provided me with another mug of steaming hot coffee.

"So," Lisa said brightly, as if absolutely nothing was odd about the morning's proceedings thus far, "I was think we'd go out today. A nice day on the town, just the two of us."

I laughed. "Hah! Good luck finding anything to do in this small town. Recall that I live in New Hampshire college town? I'm pretty sure our only options are the thrift shop down the street and seniors hour at the bowling alley."

"I didn't mean _this _town, you goof, I meant New York." Coming from Lisa, it almost sounded believable. I stared at her for a minute while she continued cooking eggs over my hot plate. I waited to see some shift in her expression, but she looked absolutely unfaltering.

"Umm, Lisa? Did I hear you correctly? Did you say _New York_? As in the Big Apple? The City That Never Sleeps? NYC?"

"Yes, of course that's what I meant! Did you hear me stutter? Call it whatever you like, it's where we're going this afternoon."

"But that's like a seven hour drive!" I exclaimed. "And that's on a good day!"

"You forget who you're talking to," Lisa grinned devilishly. I did recall a rather speedy journey to Providence once, a long time ago, when I was just learning about the intricacies of vampires in real life… and Tessa had mentioned something about making it from Quebec to Dartmouth in six hours…

"But what if… What if I don't want to go?" I asked timidly.

"You don't have a choice," Lisa said firmly, "But out of curiosity, what else would you have planned for the day? Giving your television a bath in nacho cheese? I cleaned the chocolate off from last night by the way, and you're welcome."

The living room did look a lot cleaner than I had left it the night before, but then again, Lisa didn't sleep.

"Thank you."

Lisa stood still staring at me, tapping her foot impatiently. "You didn't answer my question."

I felt my cheeks redden. "Well, I did think, if Mike came back-"

"Oh no you don't!" Lisa squealed, standing directly in front of me in a blink of an eye, shaking her finger at me. "Don't you dare start acting like those sobbing girlfriends who wait around all day for their man to come around and make them feel better. You are a strong, independent woman, and we are going out today to have a good time, _without _worrying about whether or not you'll have a message waiting for you when you get home."

"Newsflash, Leece, I'm pretty sure I've already defined myself as a sobbing girlfriend, have you seen my face this morning?" I pointed toward the mascara stains for added effect.

Lisa grunted in disapproval. "Shut up and eat your breakfast. We'll fix that momentarily."

Twenty minutes later, as promised, I was fed, washed up, and dressed in an outfit far flashier than I would have picked for myself. I was ready to spend the day in sweats and Mike's old, beach-stained football jersey, but instead Lisa made me wear a bright red tank top, under a stylish denim jacket, accompanied by black skinny jeans and brown leather boots. In her eyes, I was ready for a day "on the town."

The cold hearted vampire wouldn't even let me record a new message on my answering machine to inform Mike, should he happen to call, that I would be out of town for the day. Instead, I was whisked away in Lisa's sleek black car, going at speeds that would make NASCAR blush. We did make it to New York City in less than three hours though, a miracle by any standard.

It wasn't exactly the beautiful, sunny day I was anticipating. It was drizzling a little bit, in fact, and most people in the city were ducking under the eaves and archways of buildings to stay dry. I didn't mind the rain so much, having lost all care for my outward appearance in no more than twenty-four hours, but Lisa took this excuse to drag me into every high-end fashion store we passed. However, as my enthusiasm didn't improve and she found herself sighing more and more with disapproval at my general misery, we worked our way out of the shops and towards rural New York, aka Central Park.

By midday it had stopped raining but it was still under a pretty thick cloud cover, good for vampires. Lisa forced me to eat a corndog she bought off a vendor, and I sabotaged my four months of dieting with one sinful bite.

Maybe it was the smog filled air of the city, or the toxins in the corndog, but I began to think less about Mike, becoming more numb to my sadness, instead reverting to my old habits that never really left me. The paranoia. The suspicion.

It didn't help that I was with a vampire who had no intention of harming me (unless I made another attempt at calling Mike, that is). The pale faces of passersby stood out to me, etched on my irises seconds after we already moved on. People who hung in the shadows more than others were threats in my mind. And above all, I didn't want to look into their eyes, afraid to see the empty black of hunger.

I guess this whole routine may have made me a little jumpier than usual. Very suddenly, Lisa pushed me onto a bench, standing directly in front of me, her eyes accusing.

"What is wrong, Carly? Something's bothering you, and I know it's not Mike, not this time. I've never seen you so skittish, you're practically hopping out of your boots."

My cheeks were burning red with embarrassment, so much so that all I could do was stare at her feet. She groaned loudly and sat down beside me. "Honestly, just say it, you'll feel better when you do."

"No way. You'll either laugh, or get mad at me, and I'm not too inclined towards either."

"I'm appalled that this is how you think of me," Lisa said very sternly, reminding me a of a reprimanding school teacher. She took my hand in her icy pale one. "Please, Carly, just tell me what it is. I'm trying to help you."

"But that's just it!" I exclaimed, tearing m hand away and standing up. "You can't help me! You made this whole mess to begin with! If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be in this situation right now! I would be back home, cuddled up with Mike, watching episodes of _The Office_. But no! My boyfriend left me, and I'm wandering around in New York, freaking out, all because of _vampires!_"

Lisa stared at me blankly. "I'm sorry, but how is this my fault?"

"If I never found out about vampires, or werewolves, or any of this supernatural crap, I wouldn't have any problems at all! I would be home with my boyfriend, sipping hot chocolate, my biggest worry being what class I had the next day, not whether some freaky vampire was going to swoop down and eat me!"

Lisa continued to sound incredulous. "You're blaming your relationship problems on the existence of vampires? Alright, this is a little more out of control than I thought."

"You're telling me! I can't go anywhere anymore without being paranoid!"

"Paranoid that Mike would leave you?" She asked, confused.

"No! Paranoid of the vampires! I see them everywhere!" My voice was growing more hysteric while I paced in front of the bench where Lisa was still sitting, calm, cool, and collected.

"How did we get from Mike to Vampires again?"

"You're the reason he left me, keep up with the program Lisa!" I yelled in annoyance, still pacing. "And now they're following me-"

"Who?" She asked, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Me? I thought I was doing the leading."

"No, not you! Them! The other vampires!" I whispered frantically, my eyes shifting to various people in the park. A middle-aged woman sitting on a bench, reading a novel; A young couple walking, holding hands; An old man sweeping up trash in the shade; A boy in a college sweatshirt tossing a Frisbee.

I pointed each of my suspects out to Lisa who nodded with consideration. However, when she spoke, it was with a patronizing tone. "Carly, just because you see vampires around doesn't mean that they're going to hurt you, or even less, follow you. They are out here enjoying themselves, just like we are. Or just like we're _supposed _to be, anyhow."

My eyes grew wide. "You meant I was right? They're all vampires?"

"No, not all of them," Lisa admitted, shrugging.

"Oh, I was wrong about the young couple, wasn't I?"

"No, the college boy. He's not a vampire, just particularly good-looking."

I watched him catch another Frisbee and nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, Lisa perked up. "Okay, now that we've addressed your paranoia, can we do something fun?"

"Like what?" I asked, raising one eyebrow. "I'll remind you, I haven't quite forgiven your species yet, I'm still upset about Mike."

"Oh get over it! Mike's a baby with commitment issues, you two needed a separation anyway, I would know. You'll get back together when the time's right."

Lisa was one of the "talented" vampires, gifted with the ability to see things in the future, but only the good things that were supposed to make you happier. For example, if she were buying lottery tickets, she would see which numbers would win. Or if she needed to get somewhere, she would see the shortest route. I thought of it as a permanent state of good luck. She tried to ignore it as much as possible, being more inclined to be miserable and bitter since the loss of her husband. However, when it was needed, her ability proved to be very useful.

"How do you know we'll get back together?" I asked. "I mean, he left me! He's never done that before. I don't even know where he's staying…"

"Look, do you want me to get Alice Cullen on the phone?" Lisa asked with irritation. "She could tell you almost _exactly _when you two will get back together."

"No," I mumbled. "That's okay, I trust you."

"And so you should. Now let's get out of here!"

And that's how I found myself standing outside the Yankee Stadium in a crowd of blue and white, hating life more than ever.

"Umm, Lisa? You know I'm a Red Sox fan, right?" I asked timidly, hoping no one in the crowd would hear me. They said that if you wore a Yankees hat in Boston, you very likely to be shot before the night was out. I was hoping the same didn't apply to New Yorkers.

"No, Carly, I completely forgot that you grew up in Boston and that you have a signed poster of the Red Sox hanging up in your apartment, along with the Red Sox pajamas, the Red Sox coffee mug that you drank out of this morning, and the DVD of the 2004 World Series. It really didn't occur to me that you're a Red Sox fan." Her sarcasm didn't lighten my mood. When Lisa saw this she sighed and nudged me lightly in the shoulder. "Come on, humor me. _I _grew up in New York. This is my hometown, and this is _my _favorite team. And since I'm buying the tickets anyway, I think you should be pretty grateful."

"You grew up in New York?" I asked, surprised. "When?"

"1906. My parents were German immigrants. We came in through Ellis Island and stayed here ever since. I lived here all my life, for the living part anyway," she added, smiling a crooked smile. "I am a total Yankees fan, which is probably why Sean and I never got along so well, him being a native Bostonian and all. But this… this feels like homecoming. I always come back to New York when I'm feeling down…"

I was touched that Lisa would share something like that with me, seeing as she was usually the stubbornly reserved one. I put on my best forced smile and was determined to enjoy myself.

The game was alright, even if I wasn't cheering for the home team. In the end though, someone heard me jeering at the Yankee pitcher too loudly and dumped a water bottle over my head. It certainly wasn't pleasant in cool October, but it was better than getting a plate of nachos in my hair. Or ketchup. Or beer-

"What a jerk!" Lisa exclaimed as she helped me wring some of the water out of my hair. "Do you want me to follow him and key his car? 'Cause I totally will."

"Uh, not necessary! But thanks Lisa," I said hurriedly. I had already suffered enough paranoia, thinking vampires were following me, I wasn't going to curse someone else with that fate, even if he was a jerk.

The night was over, and Lisa drove me home to my lonely apartment while I kept my eyes closed, refusing to try and calculate how fast we were going. She offered to stay with me but I assured her that I was fine, and she left to catch up to Alice and Jasper who were already on their way home to the Cullen Estate.

I walked slowly up the three flights of stairs, trying not to think about how I had done the same the night before, only not alone. I unlocked my door, hitting the lights immediately so I could take in the quiet, empty space all at once. Like pulling off a band-aid.

It did hurt at first, but not as much as I thought it would. It was temporary, I kept telling myself that.

As if by some kind of divine intervention, the phone rang as soon as I dropped my bag. I froze, my thoughts immediately straying to Mike, wishing, pleading for it to be him.

My conscience told me to be reasonable; it was probably Lisa, checking to make sure I was alright after all. Or maybe it was Tessa, back at Dartmouth by now, probably ready to gush over wedding plans.

I deliberated in my head until I finally had to run to pick up the phone before it went to voicemail.

"Hello?" I said lightly, struggling to control my beating heart that what trying to jump out of my chest while I counted the milliseconds before the person on the other line spoke.

"Carly! I'm so glad you picked up! I've been calling all day-"

Oh my God. It was Mike. As his warm, luscious voice filled my ear my stomach did flip flops of joy. This was it. He missed me already, and had been calling all day to beg forgiveness.

"-I figured you were still mad at me and didn't want to talk to me-"

"Oh! I wasn't ignoring your calls!" I said quickly, my voice chirpy enough to give the impression that I hadn't spent the whole day moping, even if I had. "I wasn't home! I went out with a friend."

"You did?" He asked, clearly surprised. "For the whole day? You didn't even leave a message-"

"Yeah, I know. It was kind of a last minute thing. We decided to go to New York City, and we saw a baseball game-" No need to mention it was a Yankees game…

"You went to _New York_?" He said, the disbelief in his voice growing. "On a _whim_?"

Well, when you say it like that… "Uh, yeah. Pretty much."

"Right… Uh-" he sounded severely confused, I could almost see him rubbing his head as he tried to make sense of it all. "I was, uh, just calling 'cause-"

"You're coming back? Thanks goodness! I've missed you so much, Mike-"

He cut me off. "Uh, Carly, I'm not coming back."

Just like that, every bubble of hope I had left popped, and I was alone, miserable, and heartbroken for the first time.

"I was just calling to see if I could come get the rest of my stuff?" He continued. "I'm staying with a friend from school- I can't get it all _this_ week, but do you think I can come by on Saturday?"

My throat had gone totally dry and my hands were shaking violently, but somehow I managed to speak. "Y-yeah! Yeah, um, Saturday's fine. You, you know, have a key…"

There was a long silence, until finally he said, "I'm really sorry Carly. I love you, I do. But I think this is really for the best."

Yeah, so I've heard.

**Questions, Comments, Love it of Hate it, REVIEW! Otherwise you're just sitting there with all those un-asked questions that arise from your constantly boiling pot of curiosity and you'll never know the answers! How awful is THAT? So do yourself (not me) the favor, and go ahead, ask those questions, leave that review... the least you could do is leave a review to tell me how lame that analogy about a boiling pot of curiosity was!**


	3. Chapter 3: A Quiet Room

**Voila, chapitre trois! Surprisingly, despite the fact that I'm vacationing, I haven't written very much yet (shame! shame on me!). But luckily, my guilt trips mean more chapters for you, even if I don't have many more chapters on deck, ready to post. I get to work on it, I will... just give me time... Anyways, I have an itty bitty bit of writer's block, so if any of you guys have some ideas, it would totally help me in creating more chapters for all y'all (yeah, I went there). I'm looking for small scenes of drama, cute little things that could happen... you'll see why soon, I think *scratches head in nervous confusion* Alright, enough with my jabber! On with the story! Don't forget to review!**

**P.S. If anyone has noticed my chapter titles are a little odd, it's cause they're taken from their song on my playlist that I'm making for this story. Sorry if it bothers anyone! Playlist will be up soon though, to anyone who's interested.**

**Chapter 3: A Quiet Room**

Monday morning I woke up alone again, but this time I didn't slip into a state of confusion before realizing why my bed was missing one person. Right away, as soon as my eyes were open, the memory was the first thing that crossed my consciousness.

"_Uh, Carly, I'm not coming back_."

I wouldn't have heard them better in my mind if he were standing right next to me, repeating it for comprehension. I understood. And I knew that I had to do something.

I stumbled through my usual morning routine; coffee, granola, the _Good Morning Show _playing on the television, a static commentary to carry me through the emptiness of my apartment. I was just sitting down at my round kitchen table in my plaid pajama pants and my Paris sweatshirt when I heard the folks on TV going on about travel options for the holidays.

_It's October, _I thought, _and they're already talking about Christmas?_

I loved Christmas; It was by far my favorite holiday. I had the same advent calendar every year, not to mention the huge box of Christmas decorations I dragged with me from my house in Hardgrave, happily anticipating hanging them up with Mike the day after Thanksgiving.

Hmm, anticipating Christmas _alone _didn't hold nearly the same appeal.

"So why are we talking about plans for the holidays now, Bob?" the woman on the television asked her co-host. My question exactly.

"Well, Tina, as we all know, it's important to make plans early, especially with air fares as expensive as they are today. Right now is the ideal time to make plans and get the best deals."

"So what would you say are the most popular winter getaways?" Tina asked, a perfect expression of curiosity pasted on her overly-made-up face.

"Well, most people would say Florida for the sun, or Vermont for the skiing, but we're talking about international travel today."

A series of images flashed across the screen of beautiful architecture and landscapes from all over the world.

"Montreal has some of the best skiing on the continent, it's a pretty popular destination," Bob said as an image of snow covered slopes flew across the screen. "Or the Bahamas, for you snowbirds out there! London is pretty warm this time of year compared to the Northern United States, and it has some of the best local entertainment as well. And who could deny Ireland at Christmas?"

A gorgeous image of the Irish countryside was on the screen for mere seconds, but it stayed in my mind for much longer. I always wanted to go to Ireland, to see the country, visit Dublin…

An idea so big flew into my mind that I jumped up, knocking my chair over, my hands shaking as my mind flew over the possibilities.

I leaped over the back of the couch to turn off the TV and ran into my bedroom, throwing on whatever clothes I could find. Finally, with a quick check of my oral hygiene, I was out the door and driving to the guidance building on my school campus.

"You want _what?_" my counselor asked me in and incredulous voice after I told her my plan. I was surprised by her immediate shock. It wasn't _that _far-fetched an idea, after all.

I repeated myself slowly. "I want to spend my second term in Ireland studying the art history and culture of the area. Are you sure I can't get this approved?"

"Getting it approved isn't the issue dear, but you are aware that second term starts next Monday? Have you, erm, considered what the _costs_ of such a trip would be?" The short, spindly woman was staring at me intently, her rectangular glasses magnifying her eyes so she somewhat resembled a bug. Her wildly curly hair that was pinned atop her head didn't help diminish the mirage.

"Costs won't be an issue," I said matter-of-factly. I wasn't yet positive on how I would pay for the trip at such short notice, but I was formulating a plan. It involved renting my apartment… and possibly selling my car.

The guidance counselor eyed me warily, then typed something into her computer. "Alright, I have the approval pending for your study. You only need to check in with all your current professors, and be aware that all travel plans are up to you to coordinate. I also need you to check in with me by the end of the day to go over how your work will be graded.

It sounded easy enough. "Great! Thanks!" I said brightly, shaking her hand and making my exit. The sun was shining when I got outside, the air fresh and clean. Finally, something was going right-

"Carly Simshauser?" Someone called my name and I twirled around to see a short, elf-like girl and a tall god-like blonde man leaning against the guidance building in the shade. When I first saw the girl, my initial reaction was that it was Lisa, but a few things told me otherwise. First of all, Lisa would never call me by my last name. Second, if it was at all possible, this girl was even shorter than Lisa, and her hair was short and spiky, rather than long and straight. Besides those few details, the resemblance was striking, from the pale skin to the impossible beauty, right down to the golden, topaz eyes on both the man and the girl. That's where there was immediate recognition. They were vampires.

I quickly made my way over to the pair in the shadow of the building, though I was careful to keep my distance. "Ok, before you say anything more, I know what you are and you better have a good reason for knowing my name, or else I'm running straight into the sun and you better not follow."

The blonde was laughing a deep sonorous chuckle. "Lisa wasn't kidding, she's certainly on top of things."

The little girl just smiled at me, her golden eyes glowing. "You don't need to be worried, Carly, we're friends of Lisa, and Tessa as well. You know us better than you think."

The light bulb went on over my head. "Alice Cullen," I said slowly.

"Yes!" Alice said brightly, almost bouncing with excitement that I was able to identify her. "And this is my husband, Jasper-"

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Jasper said in his deep voice, standing stiffly and sure to keep a definable distance. Alice, however, was beside me in a second, still bouncing like a bobble head doll.

"I know this is probably very unexpected, but Lisa asked me to look into your future and I couldn't help but see the decision that you recently made, and I have to say I think it's a great idea!"

Her enthusiasm alarmed me. "You knew…"

"That you're going to Ireland? Yes. And by the way, I already bought your ticket and arranged proper accommodations for you, just outside of Dublin."

Now I was more than alarmed. My jaw dropped, mouth gaping, and I was blinking furiously. "What? You mean-"

"You don't have to sell your car after all!" Alice said cheerfully. "Don't worry about the money, you're one of us now, it's the least we could do."

"Are you seriously about to say something mofia-esque, like _'It's all in the family'_ or something?" I asked in my disbelief.

Jasper laughed. "It's something like that."

I smiled. I liked Jasper's sense of humor. "Just give me a second, I need to process all this…" These were people that I'd not only heard about, but read about in those books that Tessa was so obsessed with. It's one thing to meet someone your friend has told you about constantly, but an entirely other thing when you've read about them yourself in books that you didn't think were all that great to begin with. I was never a fan of the _Twilight _craze; Obviously in my mind, the events in those books would have been best if they _stayed _fiction, but hey, what can you do?

"Okay," I said finally. "Second's over. What's up? You guys didn't just come here to introduce yourselves, and tell me I won the lottery, did you?"

Alice chirped an "Of course not!" just as Jasper laughed once again.

"Alice never misses an opportunity to go shopping when she finds one. She was absolutely livid that Lisa didn't invite her to go with you yesterday." Alice pouted at the thought.

"That was just plain inconsiderate. I don't blame you of course!" She said hurriedly, her face showing honest concern. "But I was a little upset."

"You wouldn't talk to Lisa for the entire night!" Jasper exclaimed. "You call that a _little _upset?"

"Well she should have called me!" Alice snapped defensively.

"I think she was a little busy. You didn't feel the worry coming off her when she caught up to us."

"No, but did _you _feel the fun she had? You can't tell me you wouldn't have enjoyed going to a baseball game!"

"I wasn't invited. I'm not going to speculate on what _would _have happened."

"Even if they had been playing the _Rangers?_" Alice said suggestively, like holding candy in front of a baby.

I was stunned, watching them banter like that. It reminded me of when Mike and I were in the early days of our relationship, before things were too serious. These two must have been together for almost a century, and they were still just as in love as the day they met. A wave of nostalgia and sadness swept over me and Jasper stopped fighting with Alice, all his attention focused on me. Suddenly I was hit with a manufactured feeling of happiness and excitement, and I had an idea where it came from.

"Anyway," Alice said, just as bubbly as before, as if nothing had happened, "What do you say? Some pre-travel shopping? There's so much you're going to need-"

I couldn't think of anything I would desperately be needing, but I agreed anyway. The rest of my week was spent with the famous vampire couple who escorted me to every shopping outlet within an hour of my apartment, and some that weren't. Alice was easy enough to get along with, though I preferred Jasper's calmness more of the time. Alice spent half the week bubbling about Tessa's upcoming wedding, assuring me that she would take care of any of maid of honor duties while I was gone, though with the wedding planned for next summer, it wasn't likely that there would be many. Jasper's presence was more of the quiet, solemn type, but he monitored my emotions, helping me to avoid any serious misery that I no doubt would have fallen into without him.

I called Tessa Tuesday night to tell her about my trip. When she picked up I could hear Jacob and the TV in the background, the TV going on Jeopardy apparently, and Jacob groaning because he kept hitting his head on the ceiling or walls or doorway of Tessa's ridiculously small dorm room.

"So what's the big news?" Tessa asked distractedly as she simultaneously tried to sooth Jake's sore limbs. "_Shhh, it's alright… No! I'm not signing up for a double next semester just so you can give some poor girl nightmares and have more room to yourself - _Sorry Carls, what were you saying? Ahh! - _Jacob! Stop throwing those pillows around! Can't you see I'm on the phone? - _Lisa called yesterday to tell me - _Honestly Jake, how old are you? Five? - _To tell me that you had some kind of news, but she - _Well if you want more room then maybe you should find an apartment in town that doesn't cost more than my tuition, how does that sound? - _but she said it would be better if you told me yourself."

I waited patiently for her to stop fighting with Jacob to deliver my news. "Well," I said, "I'm going to Ireland!"

"WHAT?" Tessa screamed, and I heard even more commotion in the background. "Since when? I just saw you two days ago, and now you're going to Ireland? When? Can I come? I wanna go! When is it? I hope it's not next summer, cause that would throw everything off with the wedding-"

"No," I said quickly, "It's not next summer. Actually, I leave on Saturday."

There was a huge pause of silence, and then…

"YOU'RE KIDDING! _This _Saturday? As in… four days away? That's insane! How did this happen? Why didn't you tell me sooner? _When _did this happen?

"Uh, I found out yesterday, and I knew you had rehearsal on Monday night, so I called today…"

"Oh, duh!" Tessa laughed. "Of course! That was very thoughtful of you. But really, what brought this on? Oh my God, I can't believe you're going to Ireland without me!"

"Well, you know, it was just kind of a spontaneous thing, you know how much I love that movie-"

"_P.S. I Love You_," she said firmly, and I could practically hear her smiling. "Yeah, I know. So are you bringing Mike with you then? He must be excited."

Here was the hard part. I took a deep breath and just said it. "Actually, Mike doesn't know I'm going… Mike left me."

I was ready for Tessa to scream in shock, but the silence that followed was worse. I could hear the contestants on Jeopardy shouting out answers.

"Yeah…" I groaned.

"Wow," Tessa finally managed to murmur. "I just… I don't believe it! Mike? _Mike! _But Mike loves you! You love Mike! For the longest time, you guys were the only evidence I had that true love existed!" My best friend was the best at being sympathetic. It was one of the reasons I loved her most. She wouldn't tell me that Mike was a jerk, or that I could do better, because I didn't want to hear that. She would just tell me how sorry she was.

"Yeah, I know. It was really unexpected, but I'm dealing with it."

"Oh, baby! Do you want me to come over there? Jake and I can be there in half an hour-"

"No, it's okay. Lisa came over after it first happened, and now I have Alice and Jasper Cullen looking after me-"

"The Cullens?" Tessa asked. "The Cullens are there? They didn't even tell me they were still in town!"

"That might have something to do with the fact that you're failing three classes because of their previous interventions," I pointed out.

"Oh, right," Tessa laughed. "Though I'll have you know I brought one of those failing grades up to a C! You should be proud of me. Besides, the new term starts soon, I get a clean slate!"

"I know it!" I said approvingly.

A few more seconds passed when Tessa brought up the old topic again. "So, Ireland, huh? What are you going to do once you get there? Raid a pub looking for some handsome Irish man who'll give you a one-night stand you'll never forget?"

"Tessa!" I squealed with embarrassment as she laughed it off. "God! You're acting like-"

"Like you used to," She said quickly. "Remember, back in the day? When you were living vicariously through me, forcing me to go out with a certain someone…?"

"Yeah, well, let's hope I don't pick up any hormone driven teenage vampires in my travels, eh?"

"No! No vampires, just very sexy Irish musicians-"

"I'm hanging up now, Tessa, you better stop before your werewolf boyfriend clobbers you for that kind of language."

Tessa was laughing again. "It's fiancé! And I love you, have a wonderful trip! Send me postcards!"

I still didn't call Mike, throughout the entire week. It was a comfort to know that at least he had a place to stay, because I found someone to rent the apartment while I was gone. His name was Steve, and he was what I would usually assume to be a sketchy skate-boarding, binge-drinking, shady deals in the elementary school parking lot type, but it turned out he was actually an online entrepreneur, running a very successful business on his laptop. He was setting up a base for his business in the area because of all the college towns, but would only be passing through for a few months, so the apartment was perfect for him, and he paid the three months rent in advance in case he left town early. We had arranged for him to pick up the keys on Friday night so he could move in Saturday morning, and I warned him that someone would be coming by to pick up a few things after I left.

As for me, I was packed and ready to go by Saturday morning, thanks to Alice. I didn't know what half the stuff she had packed for me was, but I was trusting her to have at least checked off all the essentials.

Alice woke me up early Saturday morning, a Starbucks coffee ready for me, along with my two suitcases lined up by the door. My carry-on bag was filled with a bunch of books Alice picked out about the history and culture of Ireland (what I was supposed to be studying…), as well as a leather bound journal that I hadn't seen in ages. I didn't know where she found it, and I couldn't even remember what I had written in it, or when, but I was glad to have it with me nevertheless; it was a little piece of home.

Alice and Jasper drove me south to Logan Airport in Boston, and much to my surprise and delight, Tessa and Jacob were there, waiting to see me off.

Jacob was rubbing his eyes excessively - clearly it was too early for werewolves to be up and about. Tessa was looking a little tired as well, but no less happy to see me off.

"Surprise," she said in the middle of a yawn. It _was _still dark out, after all. I mean, we're talking five AM here. It may not seem that early for vampires, but for us mere humans…

"Oh, I'm so glad to see you guys, this is really sweet," I said, smiling at my very sleepy friends.

"We wouldn't miss saying goodbye, honestly!" Tessa said, pretending to be offended.

"Yeah," Jacob said lethargically, yawning himself. "Bring me back a kilt."

"Uh, Jacob, that would be Scotland. She's going to _Ireland_," Alice said patronizingly.

"Really? What's from Ireland then? Oh! I know, leprechauns! And you know all about _those, _don't you, Alice?"

"Very funny, wolf-man," Alice said icily.

Tessa ignored her belligerent boyfriend. "Be sure to call me when you get there. I know it's a long flight, but with the time difference, it would be like tomorrow morning, wouldn't it?"

"Or two AM," Jasper mumbled to no one in particular.

"I'll call as soon as I can, okay?" I said quickly, since the plane was boarding. I got all my hugs goodbye, ranging from Alice's icy arms to Jacob's embrace which felt like a sauna, but I saved the best for last, hugging Tessa just before I handed my ticket to the smiley air hostess and walked onto the plane.

I found my seat in business class (thank you, Alice), and settled in, ready to fall asleep as soon as the plane took off. However, for some reason (probably the coffee), I couldn't get my eyes to stay shut. So I opened up one of my travel guides, glancing at the pictures of the Irish countryside, and various maps of Dublin. I still wasn't feeling any drowsier. So, finally, I pulled out the leather bound journal.

I honestly couldn't remember the last time I had seen the book, so I opened up to the first page to read what was written.

I gasped as my eyes comprehended that what was on the page was _not _my own handwriting, but Mike's. This was the journal we shared with each other in the first few months of our relationship. He had been a senior in high school, and I was a junior. He gave me the journal for Christmas that year, telling me how he felt, and a week later we were together. We kept passing the journal between us for three months, until I apparently lost it in a box of books somewhere. Until now, until Alice and found it and put it in my bag as I flew away from the love of my life into the great unknown.

A single tear rolled down my cheek as I began to read what he wrote.

_December 16, 2007_

_Hey Carly! So, right now, you're sitting across the cafeteria table, asking me what I'm writing, and I told you that it's a letter to someone who's very important to me, which is true. The fact that you assumed it was my mom was totally your conjecture, so don't call me a liar._

_Why am I writing? Because, this is going to be your Christmas present, and I couldn't just give you a journal without at least explaining myself a little bit. I couldn't even give you a present without some explanation, so here it is:_

_You are my closest friend, closer than anyone. I love you more than you can imagine, and I think you love me too, though I have no right to it at all. You stood by me through the months of crazy drama with Her Royal Highness, Amy the Drama Queen/psycho ex-girlfriend (Who from here on out will remain She Who Must Not Be Named), and you never once told me to go elsewhere when I needed to tell someone what antics of insanity S.W.M.N.B.N. came up with… You were always my shoulder to lean on, always there for me, especially when I didn't deserve it._

_So is it really any surprise that while I was suffering through the break-up of a lifetime, the only person I could think about was you? You inspire me, Carly, and I can't thank you enough for everything you've done for me, and all the nights you listened to my whining and complaining until 2 AM, but most of all, I want to thank you for the things you don't even know you do._

_I want to thank you for your smile, like the one you're giving me now while I cleverly avoid telling you why I'm writing a letter to my mother (I'll remind you, I WASN'T lying). I want to thank you for the way you squeeze my arm when you're excited. Thank you for smelling like honeysuckle every morning when I say hello. Thank you for looking deep into my eyes when you say goodbye. Thank you for bouncing up and down when you're telling a funny story. Thank you for throwing little pieces of food at Tessa when she hints that I should ask you to Prom. Thank you for blushing whenever I say your name. Thank you for rolling your eyes when Sam walks up to the table with some gossip about Amy's latest drama. _

_Thank you for being yourself, for being my beloved Carly. I love you just the way you are, and I hope you can love me too. I think you do, but even if you don't I'm not about to stop being your friend. I want to be there for you just like you're there for me._

_I love you,_

_Mike_

I couldn't help myself, I was crying all over the place. The plane had taken off long ago, and I hadn't even noticed the ground leave from under us, I was so absorbed in the letter I had read so many months ago, the letter that made me jump up and down with joy to find out that after months of patiently waiting for Mike to dump his psycho-ex, he finally could say that he loved _me_, that he wanted to be with _me._ He wanted to be there for _me_.

But he wasn't there for me, not any more. He left, and I didn't know why. I didn't know how to get him back, or if he even would come back. All I knew was that I was thousands of feet above the ground, and love was looking like a fairytale. If only this _was _fiction.

**Haha, now you see where I got my title? Mwahaha, oh the cleverness of me! You guys gotta let me know what you think, and give me some ideas of things that could happen to Carly on her trip in Ireland, because my outline is, ahem, skinny, at this point. Meaning I need drama, I need plot. I have a basic destination, but I need to know the means of travel to get there. This is vague, I know, but just send me your ideas if you think of something. REVIEW IT KIDDOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	4. Chapter 4: Happiness By the Bottle

**A/N: I'll start with the most important notice: I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK FOREVER TO UPDATE!!!!! I swear final exams are at fault, I was out of commission for like... a month, studying and whatnot. But I'm back on track now, and hopefully I can actually get some work done on my stories. So anyway, this one in particular is a little open ended, so if you have suggestions or ideas, send them my way! Also, little disclaimer: I have never been to Dublin, so if my impression of the city is wrong, please forgive me, I'm just writing this for fun, I'm sorry if it's incorrect. It's all just for fun, I'm not trying to make any kind of statement, nothing here is fact, except the time difference and one other thing I'll put at the end. Oh, and I also mentioned something I call the "crazy American look" which I have personally recieved many times in my travels (mostly in France). That is not made up or an exaggeration, just personal experience. I love France! I'm not being discriminatory!**

**Okay, I'm done now. Sorry again, hope this is up to usual standards. Please review!**

**Chapter 4: Happiness By The Bottle**

After a _long _flight, some serious napping, and a couple airplane meals that I wouldn't write home about, we were landing in Dublin. My thoughts about Mike were pushed to the side as I bounced in my seat with anticipation. I kept staring out the window at the city lights. It was about 11 PM in Dublin, according to the air hostess on the loudspeaker, but to me it felt like six at night. I was ready to get out, to see the city-

What the heck? I was standing outside on the curb of the airport, and there were no cars. No buses full of people heading to the clubs, no taxis to pick up wandering jet setters… what kind of city was this? There wasn't even the massive lights that would suggest a city. Where were the legendary discotheques of Europe? I mean, Ireland _was _part of Europe, right?

I saw a younger looking man waiting a little ways down the curb and decided to figure out exactly what was going on.

"Excuse me?" I asked hesitantly, my voice shrill from nerves. "Uh, sir?

The man turned around to face me with curious blue eyes. Figured, first man I met in Ireland had bright red hair, blue eyes and freckles.

"Yes?" He answered with a thick Irish accent.

"Uh," I said awkwardly, trying to figure out what exactly I was asking. "Do you know where everybody is?" He looked at me like I was slightly crazy, so I elaborated. "I mean, the taxis, or buses. Where can I find a ride?"

This time he actually laughed at me. "You're not likely to get a ride at this time of night, lassie, all the cabs are likely to be at the pubs. Everyone's at the pubs!"

"Oh!" I said, surprised, "So there are clubs around here?"

He laughed even harder. "No, not clubs, _pubs_. Not exactly what you're thinking of."

I shrugged. "Doesn't matter much to me, I just want to go out and have some fun, it's still early for me."

"Well, you're welcome to share my lift when it gets here. My brother is picking me up and we're going to grab a drink before we turn in."

"That sounds great," I said, moving closer to my new friend. "I'm Carly, by the way."

"Thomas," he said, offering me his hand in greeting.

After a few more minutes of staggered conversation it was pretty obvious that Thomas and I weren't going to be the closest of friends. He worked in a law firm in New York but was visiting his brother for the holidays. He didn't listen to a lot of music, he wasn't interested in art, and the most interesting book he'd read in the past five years was _The Brothers Karamazov_.

Not my first choice of company, but he was my only ride out of the airport, so I waited patiently, clutching my pepper spray with a death grip, just in case - You never know who could turn out to be a creep; he and his brother could be heading to Amsterdam on Christmas Eve to hire legalized hookers for all I knew.

Thomas's brother, Lyon, arrived within half an hour and he was kind enough to give me a lift to the closest pub. Lyon was basically identical to Thomas, excepting that he was slightly more muscular. Thomas told me that Lyon worked as a farm hand for most of the year, doing odd jobs. Fortunately those odd jobs put some tone to those attractive forearms…

WHOA! What was I doing? Was I _checking out other guys?_ Wow, Mike dumped me less than a week ago and I was already checking out Irish strangers. Forget getting back together, I wasn't worthy. Damn Tessa and her vicarious-living thing that she claimed was my idea to begin with… I definitely was _not _going to jump the bones of some Irish stranger, no matter how sexy he was. Even if he did play the guitar, or something else completely erroneous.

Thomas was right about one thing: At eleven o' clock in Dublin the _only_ places open were the pubs, and that's where _everyone _was. As soon as I walked through the classic swinging wooden door I was hit with the sights, sounds, and smells of Ireland. People everywhere, cheering and jumping around as a band played a kind of bouncy rock 'n' roll that I had only heard before at Red Sox games, but recognized as typical drinking music. Glass mugs were being passed around everywhere, beer poured out by the barrel, and I could smell the alcohol that made the air heavy and the people _that _much more loud and outgoing.

I was tugged out of my daze by a warm, smooth voice like honey.

"So, what do ya think, eh? Can I buy you a drink?" Lyon's smile was inviting and his sparkling blue eyes entranced me.

"Sure, I suppose," I said meekly, trying to hide any intimidation. "Nothing too strong though, I still have to make it home tonight."

"Don't worry," Lyon laughed, throwing his brother a secretive smile. "We'll make sure you get home alright."

Immediately I was apprehensive. My natural instincts from being in a relationship for so long set me on guard, urging me to shove off any and all advances from other men. I had to nearly slap myself to keep from running away screaming that I was a lesbian (my usual method of defense against unwanted attentions from men). I figured I would be more relaxed after a drink.

Lyon handed me a glass mug and I took a sip, nearly choking on its contents. I tried to cover myself by coughing loudly. Lyon eyed me with a funny look on his face.

"Everything alright Miss Carly?"

"Ah, yeah," I coughed. "What exactly is this?" I asked, pointing at my mug while attempting to take another sip without making it entirely obvious that I thought the beverage tasted disgusting.

"It's just beer!" Lyon laughed, looking at me with that all-too familiar expression. You know the look, the crazy-American-who-can't-even-take-a-sip-of-beer-she's-so-uncultured look. It's also known as the stupid-American-what-are-you-doing-with-that-baguette look, as well as the bloody-American-who-doesn't-know-how-to-drive look. Even through my limited travels I had become accustomed to receiving this signature look, pretty much whenever I did _anything _wrong in a foreign country. I was used to it.

"I guess I'm not really used to the flavor…" I mumbled, setting my mug on the wooden bar while Lyon kept appraising me with growing humor in his eyes.

"That's perfectly fine, baby, you need to keep you mind about you anyways." His eyes twinkled under the lights above the bar, and I thought for a second that I was hallucinating a cloak of sparkles surrounding him. Was my mind playing tricks on me, or was I actually _attracted _to this guy? I mean, yeah, he was alright… probably more than alright after at least one drink. Despite my inner monologue, I was somehow towed onto the dance floor, up against Lyon's strong body, jumping and bouncing along with everyone else, rocking away to the music.

I was vaguely aware of a flash that caught my attention, and thought I could see Thomas waving at us, my camera in his hands.

Before the night was out, I had managed to down the whole mug of disgusting liquid they called beer, which didn't taste so bad by the time I reached the bottom of the glass, and I had spent a few more dances with Lyon, and even one with Thomas, though he would not be trying out for Dancing With The Stars anytime soon.

Hurrah! I had managed to drink another glass of beer! Who's the wimpy American now? A few more dances, but I still wasn't tired! Hey, it was only eight o'clock in Boston, I still had tons of energy!

Another beer down! God, Lyon was so good looking… How lucky was I to meet his dorky brother at the airport and then get to dance with him all night long? All night long…

Wait, did _I _empty that fourth glass? Or was that someone else…?

BAM. My eyes flew open and I was looking at the ceiling of an unfamiliar room, a faint glow of sunlight coming through wide picture windows. Ouch… I groaned as I shifted my position, which conveniently, or inconveniently in most opinions, was on the bottom step of a staircase.

Okay, step one: Try to remember where I was. I was in Ireland, in Dublin. I was in a house apparently. Surely I had to have come here on purpose?

Step two: Remember how I got here. I recalled Lyon leading me outside of the pub, catching the attention of one of the snoozing taxi drivers parked along the street, giving him the address of the house Alice had arranged for me to stay at. I remembered the cabby catching my attention when I tried to fall asleep in his backseat, asking "Is this the place, miss?" once we were outside a cute little house just on the outskirts of the city. It was exactly the kind of house you picture when you think out Christmas in the country, almost identical to the house in the movie my mother always made me watch at Christmas, _The Holiday. _I tossed the cabby a couple euros and stumbled outside. I remembered a light in the window. I remembered being very tired and falling asleep in the first place that looked even slightly comfortable…

…Which apparently was the bottom step of the staircase, just inside the house. I stood up, my limbs aching and my head pounding, and walked to the door, stepping outside onto the front step.

The sun was just past the technical "sunrise," but the fog across the acres of country was tinted pink and orange in the early morning light. I checked the house behind me, shuffling in my bag for the photo Alice had given me, comparing the two with a scrutinizing eye. Thank God, it was the right house. Taped to the front of the door there was an envelope with my name on it. I tugged it off, but there was no note inside, just a small bronze key which under further investigation unlocked the front door.

I walked back inside, closing the door behind me, shivering slightly in the cool air. I took my first real look of the house. It was an old, classic country house, just like you'd imagine, with wooden ceilings and walls that seemed to be held together by the ugly wall paper that must be circa 1920's. The to the right of the main foyer was the staircase that led to the second floor of bedrooms, and a hallway that connected to a cozy kitchen, complete with fireplace. There was a small parlor to the left of the foyer that was tripped out to be a high-tech office, courtesy of the Cullen finances. Looking around, I noticed one thing of high importance that I naturally wouldn't have noticed during my hours of inebriation: My bags were not present. All my stuff was missing.

In fact, the only personal item I had on me was my purse, and its contents were not very helpful.

I had my camera that was registering several pictures from the night before that I did not remember taking. I had my cell-phone that reminded me I had forgotten to call Tessa as promised, and had three waiting voicemails, no doubt from her. I had a napkin from the pub that had a messy phone number on it, the owner of which I could not identify. And finally I had my wallet.

Damnit, that was the _last _time I'd ever let an Irish man buy me a drink, that's for sure.

I whipped out my cell-phone, hurriedly dialing Tessa's phone number. It didn't even occur to me to look at the clock first.

"Hello?" a groggy voice that I assumed belonged to Tessa answered.

"Tess? It's me, Carly!" I said quickly.

"Carly?" She asked, like the name was unfamiliar.

"Yes, Tess, Carly! You're best friend? The one who just flew to Ireland? Listen, I kinda had a crazy night-"

"Carly! What the hell?" She suddenly yelled, forcing me to throwing the phone away from my ear for a second. "It's freaking 2 AM! I just got to sleep after having to listen to the girl next door who plays her radio until the flippin' sun rises, and then Jacob snores when he's sleeping, and I have rehearsal in the morning-"

"Oh my God, I'm sorry!" I yelped. "I totally forgot about the time! I'm so sorry!"

The line was already dead. I didn't take it personally at all, Tessa was the kind of person who would answer the phone in her sleep and not even remember then next day. Odds were she was already back in dreamland, accidentally dropping her phone along with her consciousness.

Right, so I had no idea what to do now, unless I felt like calling one of my vampire friends. I reached into my wallet to pull out the card Alice had given me with her phone number. Of course, she answered on the first ring.

"Honestly, Carly," she said immediately, not even waiting for an introduction or a hello, "I thought you would have at least had the smarts to call me or Lisa _before _you made the mistake of calling Tessa in the middle of the night, but then again, I guess I'm not surprised."

"How could you be?" I asked somewhat bitterly. My head was pounding, all I wanted was to go back in time and undo the previous night…

"Oh calm down!" Alice chirped back with a similarly harsh tone. "Your luggage will arrive later today and you should dress nicely for when they arrive. There are clothes in the upstairs closets that you can wear, and shoes are in boxes under the bed. Don't answer your voicemail yet, and Jasper wants to talk to you."

I was speechless after the torrent of words from the pixie on the other end, but was immediately calmed when I heard Jasper's soothing bass.

"Good morning, Carly. I hope your travels went well?"

"Oh, just super," I said sarcastically, rubbing my temples. "I suppose Alice has already told you what happened?"

"You mean about the evening at the pub and the lost luggage? Yes, she was kind enough to share that information."

"You forgot the hangover from hell," I groaned while Jasper chuckled.

"I suggest some sleep for now, and coffee later," he advised. It sounded as good as anything.

"Thanks, note taken."

"Oh, and Carly?" he said quickly before I pressed the end button. "Be sure to take care of yourself. Just because you're out of New England doesn't mean you're out of the woods. Keep your eyes peeled, and don't trust everyone." His voice was wary and concerned, so I took it to heart.

"Thanks Jasper, I know you two are looking out for me."

I was returning the card with Alice's phone number to my wallet when I noticed something else to send me worries. First of all, my ID was missing. Or, I shouldn't say missing, but rather replaced. I hadn't noticed before when I was boarding the plane and I handed my passport to the flight attendant, but my passport was different, as was my drivers license; both of them no longer said CARLY SIMSHAUSER, but CARLY CULLEN. The picture was the same, as was all my information, except the name. I had no idea why she would give me a fake ID, until I noticed something else that was missing from my wallet.

All my credit cards were gone, replaced by one single shiny black card. I checked the name on it; Yes, it said Carly Cullen.

Wow, Alice really seemed to have some kind of fairy godmother complex. Was I going to be responsible for any part of my trip? Because thus far, it certainly didn't seem like it, unless you counted me responsible for the throbbing headache that was torturing me presently, which I didn't really want to.

I dragged myself into the kitchen and started up a pot of coffee, meandering through the house until I found my room upstairs, tucked in the back corner of the twisted hallway. A large double bed with brass fixtures and a handmade quilt was in the middle of the rose colored room. I would have made the hasty assumption that the room was unusually small had I not taken a look inside the closet, realizing that the room's size had been adjusted to make room for the massive walk-in closet, lined with designer clothes that I had never seen before. All my size, of course.

I debated between getting more sleep and getting up for the day, deciding that I should adjust to the time change sooner rather than later. I grabbed the first dress I found in the closet and sat down on the bed.

Next thing I knew, my eyes were inching open to a bright morning and pounding sound was coming from the first floor. Of course, I had fallen back asleep.

I looked around me, experiencing once again that wonderful thrill of not knowing where I was. Not.

I tossed the dress over my head and pulled my mess of hair behind my neck as quickly as possible, skipping down the stairs to the front door from which the thundering sound was emanating.

"Hold on just a second!" I said in my cheeriest voice, swinging the door open with a forced smile plastered to my face. A smile that promptly disappeared when I saw who was standing on my door step.

"You!" I gasped as my eyes gazed over Lyon, looking clean, well rested, and handsome as I had ever seen him, rare as those occurrences had been. He certainly didn't look like he was suffering for with worst hangover of his lifetime, if that said anything. In fact, he looked about as happy to see me as I _wasn't _happy to see him. Which was very. His eyes grew wide at my accusatory tone, and he took a surprised step back.

"Uh, hey, Carly? Right? It's Lyon, from last night…?"

"Okay," I said sharply, putting a defensive hand in front of me. "Before we get ahead of ourselves, I just have to say that I was very drunk last night, and I don't remember anything, so if you're here to tell me that we made some sort of plans for today, I don't have any recollection of them and no intentions whatsoever of going anywhere with you. In fact, I blame you entirely for what happened! Why the hell didn't you stop me? Who do you think you are? Taking advantage of and young girl like me, stranded in a foreign country-"

"Now hold on a moment!" Lyon yelled forcefully, "Seeing as you _don't _remember anything, allow me to clarify for you! _You _were raving mad last night! _I _took your fifth beer away from you and put you in a cab to get you straight home so you _wouldn't_ do something you'd regret later. And this is the thanks I get?" He huffed in disgust and turned to walk back to his car.

"Oh! So you came here to get a thank you? That's real classy!" I retorted as his retreating back, ready to slam the door.

"No!" He called. "I came to drop off your luggage which you left in my car! Here you go, and you're welcome!" He cursed bitterly as he threw my two suitcases onto the front lawn and drove away, mumbling about "crazy Americans."

I waited stubbornly in my doorway with arms crossed until his car was completely out of sight, when I rushed down and grabbed my suitcases, expelling gasps of relief and hugging the luggage like a lost sibling. No, at the time, this did not strike me as odd in any way.

Since I was up and awake (finally) I poured a cup of now luke-warm coffee and sat down in the office on a red, velvet sofa that faced the picture window over the desk, settling into the beautiful view of Irish countryside. I was going to have to explore that later, but for now I had some housekeeping to take care of, starting with my voicemails that Alice had warned me not to listen to. I had hastily assumed they were from Tessa, so I didn't exactly prepare myself for Mike's voice when the messages began.

Actually, I screamed and threw the cell-phone across the room, immediately jumping after it and clutching it to my ear like one of those pathetic girls who fall apart when their boyfriends leave them.

Which I was.

"_Hey Carly, it's, uh, Mike. I'm just calling cause I stopped by the apartment and some dude let me in to get my stuff, and I didn't see you there… You aren't seeing someone new, are you? I mean, I guess we didn't say we couldn't see other people, but I just wasn't expecting you to go out and… uh… anyway, um, I have my things, and just give me a call when you can, I'd like to hear from you. …Unless you're pissed at me, which I'd totally understand, that's fine… hey, but you're the one who's already got some guy sleeping over! So I should be mad at you! Yeah! …No, I guess not, that's not really fair… yeah, okay, I'm gonna go now. Bye."_

My eyes were welling up with tears, but the messages were still rolling.

"_Hi Carly, it's me again. Mike, I mean. So I talked to Tessa, and she told me you're in Ireland? Look, I know you're probably wicked pissed at me, and I understand that, but honestly, telling your best friend to lie and say you left the country? That's a little immature. You did the exact same thing for Tess when she broke up with that other guy she was seeing back in high school, I know your tricks! So could you please stop with the jokes and call me? We need to talk about this."_

I laughed at the memory of the time we convinced Tess's creepy ex-boyfriend that she moved to Alaska to attend some fancy boarding school. Of course Mike would assume that I was trying to avoid him, which technically I was. I just wasn't lying in the process.

The final message was playing, and my heart panged at the sound of his voice.

"_Carly, this is a little ridiculous. Why haven't you called me back? You never leave your phone off, this isn't like you. Who is the weirdo guy in your apartment? I tried to go back to find you and he called security on me! Where are you? I want to talk to you, Carly! I- I'm sorry. Could you please just call me back? Please, I… I want to talk things over."_

I was alarmed at myself. The tears that I had felt coming never came. Instead, my chest heaved with anger. Mike was right, I was pissed. How could he do this to me? He accused me of sleeping with other guys, and lying to avoid him, yet he was the one who left! _He _left _me_! Who did he think he was, anyway?

I glanced at the clock on the wall which told me it was 10:34 AM Dublin time. That meant it was 5:34 AM in New England. That was late enough to call him, right?

The phone rang and Mike's groggy voice answered.

"Hello?" he croaked.

"Alright, listen jerk, here's the deal," I said quickly enough to catch his attention and convey that I was _not _happy at the same time. "First off, I _am _in Ireland, I'm not lying, and I'm not trying to avoid you, and I'm certainly not being immature. Second, leave Tessa alone, she has better things to concern herself with than you. Third, you are not to go to my apartment again. You left it, thus it is mine, and it's my business who I allow to stay there, not yours. And finally, if you call me again, I will not listen to a word you say. I will hang up, and register for a new phone the very next day. I hope I've made myself clear. Goodbye."

I hung up the phone before he even had a chance to respond, grabbed my purse, and headed out the door.

**Okay, so the other "fact" in here was the part about lying to an ex-boyfriend that you moved away. I'm ashamed to say that I really did convince my ex that I moved to Alaska to attend a boarding school. It's a little immature, I'm aware, but he was a creep and deserved it. So there!**

**PLEASE REVIEW!!!!! At the very least just give me a note telling me to never abandon you guys again, I swear I'm reformed now!**


	5. Chapter 5: I'm Already Somebody's Baby

**A/N: Hey, so I'm pretty excited that I got another chapter out in the same week! I had to really sit down and work this one out, but the next chapter's gonna be really exciting so it should be out a bit sooner (I hope). On a personal note, I graduate exactly one week form today, OMG! So yeah, it's a good day for me. **

**Anyway, I think I've already said it once, but I'll say it again: I have never been to Ireland. I'm not trying to pretend I have. I'm just doing this for fun, and if my descriptions of rural and urban Ireland are completely askewed, just go with it, it's fiction. Also, I was going to look up a legitimate Irish legend, but changed my mind due to timing in the story, so again, go with it.**

**Let me know what you guys think, how it's going. I'm gonna need a lot of help and support for this story I think. Oh! And little fun fact, all the chapter titles are taken from songs DIRECTLY OFF THE PLAYLIST :) uh huh, isn't that fun? Playlist is posted on my profile! (at the very bottom).**

**Chapter 5: I'm Already Somebody's Baby**

About twenty yards down the road I realized that I didn't really know where I was going. Or why I had left in the first place. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but looking around at the empty country road in the early morning, it clearly wasn't such a bright idea after all.

"Ugh, where am I going?" I groaned, throwing my hands up in the air instinctively. I tugged on the ends of my hair to relieve a little stress, then took a legitimate look at my surroundings.

A few other houses that looked very similar to mine were a little farther down the road, each with its own cozy front garden that ranged from well kept to completely overgrown with weeds. There was a large field directly across the street from my house with cattle scattered among the tall grasses. All the trees were full with red and orange leaves that looked close to falling off any day now. The city was close enough that I could hear a light hum of cars when the wind blew from that direction.

I needed a quick analysis of my situation: I was alone in a foreign country, standing in the middle of an empty street with nothing but my purse. I had already managed to piss off one of the two people I knew in Ireland, and didn't expect to see him around again anytime soon. I had three months to write one thesis paper on the history and culture of the country, which could probably be easily accomplished by simply spending one day in the Dublin archives, or an afternoon with a cute little old lady, sipping tea while listening to stories and legends. Oh yeah, and Mike and I were still broken up. Yup, my life was pretty fabulous at that moment.

What had I honestly expected to do once I got here? Spend three months crying and trying to get over Mike? Meeting new, exotic people and making friends? Finding enough distractions that I wouldn't ever have to think about Mike? There wasn't anything to distract me here! I was in the middle of nowhere!

"Where am I going?" I yelled again. It felt good so I tried again. "Why am I here?" I listened to the echo of my voice off the empty street. "What am I doing with my life?"

"Making a righteous fool of yourself, if you ask me," a mocking voice behind me replied. I twirled around, my cheeks red as cherry tomatoes, and saw Thomas leaning against the trunk of an orange, leafy tree by the side of the road. He must have spoken to Lyon that morning since the second thing he said was, "Please don't yell at me, I did nothing to mar your honorable name last night and I didn't mean to spook you just now. I am attempting to be chivalrous in lieu of my brother who's in too much of a strut to talk to you again, and I am returning this." In his hand was my leather bound journal.

"Uh, thank you," I said sheepishly, still a little embarrassed, and took the journal from him. "I didn't even notice it was gone."

He grinned and looked a little bit like a dorky fifth grader when he did so. "No, I bet you didn't. Lyon said you seemed a little out of sorts this morning, and he meant other than the part where you gave him a verbal lashing."

"God, I was a real bitch this morning, wasn't I?" I stated rhetorically. "I hope I didn't scar him for life or anything."

"Don't give yourself that much credit, lassie, Lyon's been through his crop of crazy girls. Your performance was fairly mild, I'm sure."

I took a good look at Thomas. Last night I had passed him off as rather plain, with his dorky appearance and relatively boring lifestyle, but looking at him now and talking to him seriously for the first time, I started to see all the things I had missed. He had a well developed sense of humor, if his tone of amusement now was anything to judge by, and he obviously had more experience with worldly dealings than I did. Darn me for judging a book by its cover, the mistake most often made.

"I'm really sorry anyhow," I said meekly. "You'll tell him that, right?"

"I could," he said thoughtfully. "Or you could tell him yourself. He's probably cooled off some by now, I told him to work off his anger baling some of the last of the season's crops. Your welcome to come over, we live just up the road."

"Umm, I don't think that would be such a good idea, I mean, all things considered…"

Thomas threw his head back in laughter. "Oh no, don't tell me you're scared to talk to him now! After telling him off this morning like he hasn't heard in five years, you're ready to retreat? Lyon's a decent boy, I promise he won't bite." He grinned a comforting smile.

My face must have shown that I was still unsure because he then said, a little teasingly, I might add, "Come on, where else do you have to go?"

His dull gray eyes seemed to sparkle then with laughter while I glared at him like he'd poked me with a hot prod, reminding of my moment of shame.

"Fine," I said sharply. "Let me just put this away and we'll go listen to the Lyon roar."

Thomas chuckled at my joke while I ran back to my house and locked up before heading back down the road, ready for more unpleasantness.

Thomas and Lyon's house was almost identical to my rental in country-farmhouse charm, but unlike mine, it was actually part of a working farm. I followed Thomas behind the house to the large wooden barn. I grimaced a little when I smelled the lovely odors coming from wooden stalls on both sides of the barn, and jumped when a chicken trotted past my feet. This was not my turf in any way shape or form.

Besides the occasional chirps from chickens and other animals, the sound I was most aware of was the grunting coming from the back of the barn where Lyon was single-handedly tossing very heavy-looking sacks of potatoes up, above his head, and into the loft. From a purely visual point of view, it was a rather glorious display of strength that would probably make any other girl drool at the sight. In my mind, however, all I could think was, Oh shit, I really hope he doesn't throw me up in the loft when he figures out I'm here.

Thomas, wiser than I would have expected, waited until Lyon had thrown all the sacks up into the loft and was looking a little more worn out than he had this morning to make our presence known.

"Lyon, look who I found wandering in the middle of the road!" he said cheerfully. Lyon took once glance at me and started walking in the opposite direction.

"See!" I huffed. "I told you he wouldn't want to talk to me! He's not going to forgive me, I'm going home-"

Lyon turned around slowly, and I realized he had just been picking up his jacket. He gave me a look that very clearly said I was an idiot and then said, in a slightly over enunciated tone, "Good Morning, Carly, it's lovely to see you. How was your night?"

I thought about pointing out that his sarcasm was entirely unnecessary seeing as he knew that I had a horrible night, but instead I just said quietly, staring at my feet, "It was fine. And yours?"

My meekness seemed to amuse him as he sigh and rolled his eyes. "Come on now, I'm over our little strife. Have you had breakfast yet?"

"Uh," I said nervously, trying to remember if in fact I had, "I guess so, I mean, I had-"

"Great! Time for lunch then!" He said cheerfully, grabbing me by the should and pulling me towards the house. I was so startled by the sudden hospitality that I didn't say a word and just let him drag me inside.

The house was warm and sun shone in through the windows while Thomas and Lyon cooked up corned beef, hash, and eggs for a lunch/breakfast combo, filling the home with delicious smells.

"So, Carly Cullen," Lyon said inquisitively- I had decided to trust Alice and preserve the false identity, just in case- "What brings you across the pond to our lovely Ireland?

"Study abroad program," I answered a few seconds later, after swallowing a delicious bite of genuine Irish breakfast. "I'm writing a thesis on the history and culture of Ireland. I don't really know specifically what I'll write about yet, but I'm sure I can dig up some old stories and legends from the area to research."

Thomas and Lyon passed a knowing look between them before Thomas said, "I don't think you'll have to look very far."

"What do you mean?" I asked, suddenly very interested.

"Well, if you're looking for a local legend, we have the answer right here," he continued.

Lyon nodded but said, "It's more of an unsolved mystery, but it is a genuine legend of the area, at least for this family."

"That's great! What is it?" I asked excitedly.

"I think you'll have to talk to Margret," Thomas said matter-of-factly. "She has all the answers."

It turned out that Margaret was Thomas and Lyon's grandmother who lived one town over. We drove there early in the afternoon, Thomas and Lyon using the drive as some good catching-up time, and I drifted off in my thoughts while the Irish countryside flew by us.

Twenty minutes later, I was sitting in the stuffy parlor of an old town house with ancient architecture, while an equally ancient woman was pouring me tea. I know I said that this was what I had in mind when I planned out my thesis, but the room was very small, an odd assortment of knick-knacks and wall hangings making it seem even smaller, and the place smelled like old people. And cats.

Putting on a brave smile, since it was Lyon's grandmother after all, I ask politely, "So, Margaret, Thomas and Lyon tell me that you know some of the old legends and stories of the area?"

"Only one, dearie, and that's what you're here for," She replied sweetly, giving me a toothy smile, her cheeks so wrinkled that her eyes disappeared into her cheeks when she did so. "The story of my great-great-grand aunt Margaret, whom I was named after, as you have probably guessed.

"She was a beautiful girl at seventeen years of age, with ruby red curls and a smile that would make any boy weak at the knees. And she could have had any boy she wanted too, if you follow me." Margaret raised her eyebrows suggestively and winked. "But her heart was set on just one boy, Gabriel O'Kelly, the farmer's son. He was definitely the pick of the crop in her village, but her father didn't approve. He wanted her to marry Aaron, the banker's son, a very wealthy boy, even at their age.

"Now, Margaret was very independent for a young lady in her time, so she struck a deal with Aaron. She met him in secret just to tell him. Her plot was to marry Aaron, but not say her vows. Then she would give him her dowry, and run away with Gabriel. Aaron agreed to her deal, but he had his own plan in mind. After their secret meeting, he went to Gabriel's farm and killed him, dumping his body on the moor. That night, everyone in the village heard the blood curdling screams coming from the moors, and Aaron convinced the town that Gabriel was killed by a banshee. Superstitious folks that they were back then, everyone believed him. Except," she paused for dramatic effect, "Margaret.

"Margaret could see right through his lie, so she ran away by herself to the moor, looking for the body of her lost love. That night the vicious screams from the moors were heard once again, and no one ever saw the beautiful girl of red curls again. They claimed that the banshee took her too, but that is the part of the story we'll never know," Grandma Margaret concluded. "However, her search for truth is still admired today. We could all learn something from her bravery to speak up when no one else would."

I pulled myself out of the vivid story like I was coming out of a trance. Thomas and Lyon were both looking at me quizzically.

"So what do you think?" Lyon asked. "Will it work for your paper?"

"I think it might," I said, working it over in my mind. "I'll probably go to the archives in Dublin tomorrow to do some research."

The whole family smiled at me, the crazy American who was going to try and solve a two-hundred-year-old mystery.

On our way out, Lyon made sure to walk by my side. I had noticed his increased attentions since that morning. At first I thought he was just trying to prove that he didn't hold a grudge from my rude outburst in the early AM hours, but now I had a feeling it was a little bit more than that.

"You know, I really admire what you're doing," he said to me while we walked out toward the car. Thomas was already in the front seat, starting the engine. "Looking into our family history, I mean," he said quickly. "Thomas and my grandmother are kind of fanatics for genealogy, I commend you for doing this for them."

"Oh no, it's my pleasure!" I said enthusiastically. "I love history and stories, that's why I came here in the first place!" Well, almost.

"That's great," he said sincerely, piercing me with those blue eyes. "I'm glad you did."

And it was at that moment that I knew I couldn't fall for Lyon. Because looking into his baby blues, all I saw was Mike's face, looking back at me from the depths of my own memory. I wasn't going to be able to distract myself from how much I loved Mike, no matter where I went, what I did, or who I danced with one night at an Irish pub.

I let Lyon drive me home, and thanked him for the enjoyable afternoon, letting myself into the house and heading straight for the high-tech office. I pulled out my digital camera and plugged it into the computer monitor so that it showed my pictures in a slideshow. I had a few of my afternoon with Grandma Margaret, and several blurry shots from my evening at the pub which I unfortunately would not be forgetting any time soon, and a few from before I left for Ireland. I knew the one I was looking for, pausing on that image and taking a seat on the small red velvet couch that faced the screen.

It was of Mike and I, a picture from way back when we first started dating and we went into Boston for a day, just the two of us. The picture was of us sitting on the ground in front of a tree on the Common; We'd asked a passing stranger to take the picture for us. We were holding hands, and I was leaning my head on his shoulder. We were happy.

I turned the computer so it was facing me, pulling my seat closer to the desk, and sat down so I could look directly at the picture while reclined on the couch. There I sat until the screen of the computer went black, and my eyes fell shut with sleep, fatigued from crying all through the night, my own personal banshee.

**Questions, Comments, Love it or Hate it, Review pleaaaaaassssseeeee!**


	6. Chapter 6:Believe What You Read

**A/N: SORRY this is taking me so long. I have no excuses other than life itself, so I'll just shut up now and let you read the chapter. I hope it's up to my usual standard, but let me know what you guys think, I really consider all advice that I get!**

Chapter 6: Believe What You Read

I woke up surprised to find myself sideways on a small red couch the next morning as sunshine was pouring through the wide windows in the front of the office. Since when did I have an affinity for sleeping in places that _weren't_ my bed? It felt far too early… jet lag was kicking in. Rather than fall back asleep, I wandered into the kitchen, checking the cabinets for any food. Keeping to the trend, Alice had arranged that the whole house was prepared for my stay, including enough food to feed me for a year instead of the three months that I would be there. I decided to start my morning off right and began gathering the ingredients for pancakes. I loved cooking, it was something that my father and I did together when I was little and I never stopped. I wasn't the best cook or anything, I just loved the calming chaos that was a kitchen when you were cooking.

Sitting down at the kitchen table with a plate of pancakes much larger than I would be able to eat, I grabbed my leather bound journal that had been lost, found, lost _again, _and once more returned to me. Rather than inflicting myself more pain than need be, I skipped over most of the entries left by Mike and myself to the most recent one, which was from Mike. He had written it to me just before he left for college whilst I was still stuck in high school for one more year. I took a deep breath and stuffed my mouth with a large bite of chocolate chip pancake for support, then started to read.

_My Dearest, Most Beloved, and Most Fabulously Sexy Carly,_

_Last night while we were on the phone I realized something so profound that I had to write it down before I forgot, and it is this: We're married. No, not in the legal sense, we haven't had a ceremony or said our vows for even checked the rates for a standard elopement, but we are, in fact, married. _

_This is my reasoning: Every night, your voice is the last one I hear when you refuse to hang out up phone at 2:30 AM until I remind you that I need to sleep to live. Every day when I wake up, the first thing I do is call you to say good morning, and to tell you how much I love you. Isn't this why people get married in the first place? Because they want to hear the voice of one person when they go through the door into dreamland, and that same person when they return? I can tell you in complete honesty that there is no one who's voice I would rather hear when I'm slipping into a sleepy stupor every night._

_What are the other reasons people get married? I know you would probably say so you can steal my favorite sweatpants, but you've already done that (Could I please have those back? Just for a week, maybe? Please?). Other reasons to be married: So I can kiss you whenever I want (check), so you can make me breakfast (check- remember when you made me oatmeal for the first time in my life? How sheltered am I?), so I can hold you hand while eating dinner with your family and friends (check), so we can embarrass our children when we drop them off at public places (Does making out in the car when you dropped Tessa off at her band concert count?), and so we can be happy together whenever we want to (check)._

_I think we've covered all the bases. It's official, we are married. So Wifey, I should probably go pick you up for breakfast now, don't you think? I have four more days with you before I leave for college, so I'm going to make the most of those four days._

_I love you,_

_Hubby_

The base of my throat ached as I read the last line, _Hubby_, my favorite nickname for him. I quickly flipped the page to a new blank one and grabbed a pen off the notepad by the phone, sitting down to write my own entry.

_Mike,_

_As much as I wish it weren't true, you betrayed me. You betrayed our love. You left me alone, and now I have to deal with that on my own. I know I kept secrets, something married couples aren't supposed to do, but I'm stuck in a secret that's so much bigger than you and me. You couldn't handle that, okay, that's fine, but I need to stop wishing that you would come out and rescue me form this big, scary world. I've flown across the ocean trying to escape, and you're still not here.  
_  
I paused, debating whether I could say it "out loud" on paper. Facing the facts, it was unlikely that Mike would ever read this anyway, so unless I lost it again, no one would be reading it at all. Vowing to never let the journal out of my sight again, I let my pen fly and wrote the words down.

_Seeing as you're never going to read this anyway, I'm just going to say what it is that tore us apart. It's vampires, Mike. Real, living, breathing, suck-your-blood-and-leave-you-for-dead vampires. Just like in those freaky books Tessa was obsessed with. They showed up in Hardgrave while you were gone, and Tessa got caught up with their crowd, and I had to help her! Not a day has passed when I wish none of it had happened. I mean, this is the stuff that's supposed to be fiction! What are you supposed to do when something that isn't supposed to be real turns out to be very real and you wish it wasn't? What could I do, Mike? I couldn't leave Tessa to fend for herself, it was killing her! But at the same time, I don't want to be without you. I had to choose, I guess, and this is where I am. Alone in a world full of vampires. At least you can have some safety by being blissfully unaware of all the horrors that surround us. I can't be so lucky._

I stopped writing before the entry became a pity party. I was done feeling sorry for myself. Wrapping the book up in my bag, I cleaned up the kitchen and went upstairs to get myself ready for a day at the library. If I could do nothing for myself, I could at least help Lyon's family by researching the mystery of their missing Aunt Margaret.

Twenty minutes later I was showered and dressed to the toes in high end fashion. Alice Cullen may be an undead vamp, but she definitely had taste when it came to clothes. My outfit looked like I had just hopped off a first class flight from Paris, which was just the way I liked it. Granted, it may have been a bit much for a simple day at the library, but who was I going to see who would actually recognize me anyway? Thus I was wearing a flowing, patterned wrap skirt that was made out of genuine silk, a long sleeved shirt that was bright red, and a cute, black, cropped vest. A pair of black, high-heeled boots that said on the label that they were made in Italy, and a long pendant necklace with a ruby-studded apple on it completed the studious outfit.

To an even greater surprise, in the garage was an adorable smart car, in red, waiting for me, keys already in the ignition. Did the Cullens have a file on me or something to look up exactly what my dream car was? This was beyond freaky, but then again, from what I had heard and read, Alice had a little more leverage on her side when it came to making estimated guesses.

It was a forty minute drive to the Dublin Archives, but thanks to some rather stubborn sheep that would not get out of the road, my drive was extended to a full fifty-five minutes. Still, I arrived with plenty of time to spare. Making my way to the rows and rows of files stored away in the large building, I started where any sensible researcher would: Birth Certificates.

Four and a half hours, two cups of coffee that would shame Starbucks any day, and one paper cut later, I had gathered the following information:

Margaret Elizabeth Hopkins, the great-great-great-great-great-grand aunt of Thomas and Lyon, was born on January 4th, 1863, the daughter of Samuel Hopkins, a landowner in the county. On March 12th, 1880, Margaret was reported missing, and two days later declared dead. There was no record of her body being found, but a report from a local herdsman at the time said that she ran off to the moors searching for the missing farm boy (unnamed), and didn't return anytime that he could see. The herdsman's report also said, "That night we all heard the screams coming off the moors, and we knew that banshee had gotten her too."

I also searched for records of Gabriel O'Kelly, and found that a farmer of that same name lived in the area at the same time as Margaret. According to the birth records, he would have only been three years older than her, twenty years old when he was reported missing and subsequently dead on March 11th, 1880.

Next, following the path the story had given me, I tried to find records of a wealthy banker by the name of Aaron. This was the first inconsistency that I came upon. There were no birth records for anyone named Aaron, no property records, and no death certificates either. According to the property records for the county bank, a family by the name of Stephens owned and ran the business from 1870 to 1893 when the last of Mark Stephens' five daughters was married off, and having spent every last penny he had on their dowries, the Stephens sold the bank and disappeared from the area. They had no sons.

On a whim, I tried newspaper headings from 1880, only finding the articles mentioning Margaret and Gabriel. I searched the months proceeding March without much luck, and finally came across a very small note on the engagements page from February 1880.

_Miss Margaret Hopkins is engaged to be married to Mr. Aaron Banks of Dublin. The wedding will be held in the South Church, Friday, March 13, 1880._

Finally, I had a name. He wasn't the son of the local banker, but with the last name of _Banks_ I could see how the story would get confused. I tried the Dublin birth records with this new name, but strangely still didn't come up with anything, not even ten years before 1863. Where did this man come from?

By then it was my lunch break, so with a fresh cup of coffee I continued searching the birth records, determined to find some evidence that this Aaron Banks existed. And I found it, just not where I was expecting.

Aaron Banks of Dublin was born on September 30th, 1802.

_1802???????????_ That would have made him… _seventy-seven_ when he was engaged to Margaret! I frantically searched the records, praying that this was a coincidence, that maybe I had missed something. Could this be his grandfather instead? Come on, in the 1800's people didn't even live past fifty! What was going on?

I tried the birth records again- nothing. I tried the death certificates all the way from 1800 to 1900 - that's a_ lot_ of dead people - to find nothing about Aaron Banks. Ever. Finally, officially freaking out, I returned to the newspaper where I found the engagement announcement. There was a picture with the article that I had briefly glanced at before of Margaret and Aaron. Well, Aaron certainly didn't look seventy-seven in that picture. He didn't look a day over twenty-one. His face was stern like they always were in old photographs, but he was also remarkably handsome. I tried to picture him in present day garb, and even I had to admit he was good looking.

Beside him, but not touching at all, was Margaret. Just like Lyon's grandmother had told me, she was incredibly beautiful. She looked young, vibrant, with long tresses of curly hair that were wrapped tightly under a classy hat. Judging by the look on _her_ face, I guessed that she was not used to posing in fancy clothes with her hair tied back like that. Just the sparkle in her eye told me that she'd rather be riding her horse barefoot and letting her hair blow free in the wind. Call it intuition, but I just knew.

"Friday the 13th," I whispered to myself, reading the article one more time. She was supposed to be married on Friday the 13th. No wonder she never made it to the church.

So, at the end of those four, almost five, hours, I left the library feeling even more confused than I did when I had arrived. Surely it must be some freak coincidence that Aaron Banks of Dublin happened to have been born sixty-one years before Margaret Hopkins? It was not possible for them to be the same person…

I shuddered and shook out all the worries that I had amassed in my few hours. That's why they called it a mystery.

Sitting on the bench outside the library with my third cup of coffee for the day, I made my last final note in my leather journal where I had been recording all my findings for convenience's sake, and dropped it back in my bag before looking up at the sky. A lovely layer of clouds that looked like they would drop rain in any second had gathered over Dublin while I was working, and a cold wind was now working its way through the streets, ruffling my hair. Regretting my decision to forsake an overcoat this morning, I rushed to the adjacent street where I parked my car. Unfortunately, the quickest way was through an alley behind the building.

"Oh great," I mumbled to myself, cursing the morning's decisions repeatedly as I picked up the pace and hurried down the street.

Why is it that when you're walking through a dark and spooky alley, it always seems to get _darker_? And _colder_? Oh, and as if my life couldn't get more cliché, when I turned around to check that I was still alone, surprise! A group a of tall, dark strangers had appeared at the end of the street behind me.

"Calm down," I mumbled to myself as my steps became quicker. "This is real life, not a horror movie, they aren't coming after you, they're probably just taking the same shortcut as you."

But that was when I saw it. Glancing over my shoulder for what I told myself would be the last time, I saw the vision that had been haunting me for months. A pale hand from the man in front, reaching behind him to hold the others back. A set of perfect white teeth set in a surprised smile, and worst of all, four pairs of dark, black eyes.

There was no negotiating here, my eyes were not tricking me, and my paranoia was not in overdrive. This was real. They were really there. My nightmares had come to life. Without even meaning to, the word slipped out of my mouth, edged with every ounce of fear I was feeling.

"Vampires!"

I didn't say it loudly, in fact, it was barely over a whisper, but they heard me. I saw very distinctly three of the bodies go rigid, and the fourth snap into motion without even a second thought, an instant reaction.

That reaction was flying over to me at lightning speed and pinning me up against the alley wall.

"Ouch!" I squealed while an icy cold hand belonging to a plump looking woman held me against the wall by the shoulder of my black vest.

"What did you say, girl?" She snapped at me, her voice deeper than I would have expected, and full of anger, yet beautiful to my ears all the same.

"Siobhan!" One of the others yelled, a man. "Stop! What are you thinking?"

"You heard her! She knows!" Siobhan hissed, pinning me tighter against the wall. My shoulder buckled from the pressure and I gasped again in pain. "How does she know? Who told her?" Siobhan asked the others, staring at them all accusingly.

"None of us have seen her before," the other man assured her in a smooth melodic voice. "Think with reason, Siobhan, what are the odds she would know about us unless she was trusted by one of our kind? Put her down! She could be a friend!" Ah, the voice of my saving angel.

Siobhan did put me down, but I was not out of danger yet. "I don't take chances, Gabe. We need to be sure she can be trusted. You know I don't ever confide in humans, I'm not as forgiving as you are, and I'm certainly not going to start another Red and Gold War over one _human_."

The way she said human showed so much disgust I trembled. "Please, don't do this," I whispered meekly, every heart beat begging them to leave me alive. "I'm no threat to you, I swear! I know the Cullens!"

"Yeah, you and half the world, thanks to Bella Cullen and her big mouth," Siobhan muttered scornfully.

"No," someone else said, surprise evident in her voice. "She's telling the truth. I think we can trust her." The girl came closer and I saw that she was not a new face. In fact, I had been looking at that same face less than an hour ago.

"Margaret Hopkins!" I gasped, my eyes wide like I had seen a ghost, or in this case, a vampire.

She was identical to the picture I had seen in the archives, only now I could see that her curly hair was a brilliant red, and her pale face was dotted with freckles, and instead of the fancy clothes that would have been high fashion in 1880, she was wearing jeans and a light brown jacket.

She looked as surprised as me, her dark amber eyes widening. "How on earth…?"

And then, to top the whole day off, a real hat trick, who should show up but _another_ familiar face that not only did I recognize, but who recognized me as well.

As the couple joined the group that had congregated around me, Sean McNally's eyes found mine, and a look of complete bewilderment crossed his face.

"Carly?" he asked slowly, the confusion and surprise only a shadow of what I was feeling at that moment.

At that's about the point when I passed out on the ground.

**Review it... Only way I'll know if I'm a rockstar or a failure! P.S. Playlist is updated**


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